Blooming Into Magic
by Camy-Tay
Summary: Bloom isn't all she appears to be. When she isn't invited to the Exhibition, Bloom and friends decide to look into her past. But the witches are there to stop Bloom. She falls into a coma. I suck at summaries. Just the half I wrote for now.
1. Chapter 1

"Please, just let me forget," she whispered, leaning back on a tree and sighing.

She was all alone, but she wanted to be right now. All week she had been alone, just to sort her feelings out. Everyone knew she needed to be alone right now, or they would have come to see her in the forest she had been camping in all week.

Other than for her rabbit, there was nothing that she was entertained by at the moment. It was just her, her rabbit, and her thoughts about Josh and what happened.

Suddenly her rabbit started to act up and Bloom got annoyed. "Kiko, stop it! I'm coming, I'm coming!" she yelled as the rabbit raced off and she was forced after it. There in a clearing was a girl with a scepter fighting an ogre. "No way!" she breathed.

As she watched the fight, she felt herself get pulled in. And when she was, she suddenly came out with magic instead of martial arts. She watched in awe, and rushed to the girl when she collapsed.

The next day was ordinary enough. Bloom had taken the girl home to sleep, then went out to run errands for her parents. They were more than happy to watch over the girl, so long as Bloom finally finished thinking and was home.

Until they heard her explanation about the mysterious girl. "Dad, she's a fairy!" Bloom protested.

"You must still be sick. Maybe it's those after-affects Dr. Silverman was telling us about. Bloom, how do you feel? You did spend the last week in the forest. No one can sleep for twenty hours!" her dad said.

"Good morning," the girl muttered, waking up.

"It's nighttime already sweetheart," Bloom's mother said, sitting on the arm of the couch. "How are you feeling?"

"Great now. I'm Stella, by the way," she greeted, smiling. The girl had long blonde hair, and big brown eyes.

"Hi, Stella. I'm Bloom," the girl greeted, smiling and stepping towards her. "Do you know where you are right now, Stella?"

"Earth I think," Stella replied, studying the girl.

_She has Winx. No one on Earth has magic. She took out Knut and his minions, _Stella thought. The girl in front of her had long, layered red hair and blue eyes.

"You saved me yesterday from the ogre, right?" Stella asked. "Thank you. I owe you my life."

Bloom's dad didn't believe them, but was amazed that as he went to call a doctor the phone turned into a carrot and lettuce. Eventually, after Stella explained about Solaria--her home planet--and the eight realms, her father believed the two. Stella even offered to take Bloom with her to a magic school called Alfea.

"Come on, it'll be great," Stella told Bloom as they waited in her room. Stella had called some of her friends from the all-boys school Red Fountain to come and help convince Bloom to come to Alfea.

Suddenly there was a noise from downstairs and when they rushed down they saw the ogre from earlier, a troll, and some ghouls attacking Bloom's house and parents.

"Bloom, you get the ghouls and I'll get the two creatures," Stella told her.

It was a tough decision. Bloom loved to beat things up--she wasn't trained in martial arts for nothing. But right now, maybe it was better that she leave it up to Stella. After all, she didn't know how to fight two creatures that didn't even exist on Earth.

She ran outside and was just about to attack the ghouls when the ogre fell on top of them. But just as she was complimenting Stella, the girl was thrown out the window and the troll smashed through her back door to finish the two off.

_My turn, _Bloom thought. "That's my house, you retard! You're going to pay for that!" she yelled, running to face him head on. "No one attacks my family!"

Just as she was about to hit him, the troll moved his arm out and pushed her out of the way. When Bloom got up she growled. The Red Fountain boys showed up the same moment, and saw Bloom get up to face the troll again.

A blonde haired boy stared in wonder. The last time a girl fought a troll, she was put in ICU after being hit once. This girl was still at it. Stella told them the girl was a powerful Winx, but he didn't know she'd be a tough fighter in general.

One of the boys stared in shock. _She looks just like Trixxi. But she can't be, _Riven thought, watching the girl rush the troll. His half-sister had black hair with amazing red and blue highlights that were natural, but shouldn't be. _This can't be her twin, can it?_

"Bloom!" they heard a man yell, and all turned to see a middle-aged couple off to a corner staring at the girl. "What have we said about fighting?"

The girl didn't even hesitate her attack on the troll. "That you're totally going to let me study it so I can be like Uncle Scott when I grow up?" she said, smiling as she took a flying leap and punched the troll in the face, sending him sprawling backwards.

Riven chuckled a bit at the parents flustered look. "No, and you know that! Bloom, stop that before you get yourself hurt! Your father and I said you weren't allowed to learn to fight. Scott taught you how to fight?" her mother said before screaming.

Bloom turned to see a ghoul rushing to attack them. "Stella, take Ugly for a second!" she yelled, jumping over the ogre to get to her parents. She swooped low and dragged her leg around, knocking it in the face and sending it backwards. Bloom ran off again. "I promise, I won't get hurt. If I can cream Josh, this thing is a piece of cake!" she yelled.

Her parents sighed. What were they going to do with their daughter?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Eventually the boys helped Stella and Bloom with the monster and had it all packed away. The two girls were able to talk Bloom's parents into sending her to Alfea, and finally they were on grounds.

Soon they met their roommates--Tecna, Musa and Flora. They went out to get a slice of pizza in Downtown Magix and Bloom was amazed. This was the magical world? It was so cool!

Suddenly Bloom thought of what her best friend Josh said once about magic. _Fairy tales are cool and all, but that's not real magic. The real world of magic would amaze you._

How did Josh know about it? He had always been a mystery, no matter how long or how well Bloom knew him. Realizing she was thinking of him in the past tense and why, she grew depressed quickly. She faked smiles and awe for her new friends, but she couldn't truly be happy.

Then when she went to call her mom, she saw the ogre from before. She followed him and came across three witches that immediately took to fighting her. They were using magic, which Bloom was only able to use once, and she was quickly encased in ice. She growled at herself for not being faster.

Stella and the girls found her, and quickly took the witches out. But her cover as a princess was blown. And when they went back to the dorms, the headmistress found out as well, but let her off. And yet, Bloom started to be suspicious of why.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Things were going fine for Bloom. She and Brandon were connecting, and the boys were all nice to her except for Riven, who Musa had a huge crush on. But sadly, Riven started to like an evil witch named Darcy who was part of an evil group called Trix and were the ones that first attacked Bloom.

But everything was fine--the boys seemed to couple off with all the girls, and Flora and Musa didn't mind much they didn't have someone. Musa was good at hiding it, and Flora didn't actually mind because it gave her more time to work on experiments with her plants.

Well, everything was fine until Bloom found out she was adopted. Found when the flower shop was burning down. She had a barrier up then, and no one knew where she got there. And now she wanted some answers.

Over that time, Brandon and she became more strained, to the point he avoided her and didn't invite her to the exhibition, an event only those invited could attend. To be honest, none of the girls were invited, but it hit Bloom and Stella the hardest.

"Hey guys, who wants to sneak into Cloud Tower?" Bloom asked, the day of the exhibition. "Today would so be the day."

"Sorry, but…Bloom that's nuts!" Stella yelled, reading a magazine on Musa's bed. Musa dropped the flute she was trying to play, and Flora and Tecna turned away from the computer to look at her.

"It's the only place with records about my past!" she protested. "Come on, there are pre-dug tunnels all over Magix connecting all the schools and even to the lake. I'm thinking I can go alone through the tunnels, have someone at the exhibition to watch the teachers, and the rest all here to watch me."

"What?" Tecna asked again. "How would we talk?"

Bloom handed them walkie-talkies she snuck out of her house the last time she was on Earth. "We need a little bit of an upgrade, but we can have Musa talking to me in here and Flora in Red Fountain."

Flora looked up for a second. Bloom handed the walkie-talkies to Tecna, who shrugged and started to update them. "Why am I going to Red Fountain?" she asked, taking the thing from Tecna. "I don't know what I would do."

"Just tell me when the teachers leave, or you can't see them, whatever they're doing. Besides, you and Tecna were going with your parents, weren't you?"

Tecna sighed. "I am. Look, Bloom, I'd love to help but I have to go. My parents made me promise I would, and they'd get suspicious. How about--"

"Are we all serious?" Stella asked. "The last time you went you almost--"

"Stella? I'll be fine!" Bloom yelled. "Please, just let me do this! I need to find out who I am, and if you guys don't help me, I'll do it on my own. But like it or not, I'm doing this today! So you're all either in or out, I don't have the time for this."

The four other girls looked amongst themselves and agreed. "Fine. What's the plan?" Stella asked.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Bloom, take this right tunnel," Musa told her, looking at the schematics of the underground tunnels.

"Okay, now what?" she asked.

"You wait for me to tell you when you come up to another fork in the tunnels," Musa replied, as if saying duh.

Tecna laughed and received strange looks from her parents. "Sorry. I have to excuse myself," she said, walking away. She looked across the stadium and right at Flora, nodding. Then she pressed in on her own walkie-talkie. "Man, I feel like a secret agent or something," she whispered. "No one's moved yet. I wish you were all here."

"You and me both," Stella replied, flying above Bloom's exact trail. Soon she would be flying right over Red Fountain and she was nervous. "I'd love to meet Prince Sky's parents. They're the richest royals in the eight realms, now that Sparx is gone. Hey Bloom, what's it like down there?" Stella asked.

"Cold. But with all the gases built up down here I'm afraid to use my fire," she replied. Tecna, how do I use the light you gave me?" she asked. "It's so dark--I'm feeling my way around in most places."

Just as Tecna was about to reply, she found herself down at the Great Hall, where Timmy was talking to Brandon and Sky. "I wouldn't know. Flora gave it to you," she whispered, hiding the walkie-talkie and smiling at the boys as she waved and walked over to them. "Hi!" she greeted.

"Hey, what's up?" Timmy greeted, smiling. "I didn't know you were coming."

From the look on all the boys' faces, they weren't happy to see her either.

"My parents brought me. I've been planning to come with them all year," she replied.

"Are the others here?" Sky asked.

Tecna couldn't tell what Stella saw in the brown-haired boy. "Flora's here with her parents."

"Bloom, just treat the light like a firefly. How do you make them burn their tails?" Flora asked over the walkie-talkie, making Tecna cringe.

Damn, she should have turned it off.

Bloom sighed as she leaned against a wall, pressing the button. "We don't make them burn on Earth. They light up in the dark, and a bunch of little kids try to catch them in jam jars. There's some kind of gas reaction in their tails or something. Just tell me how to use this light. It's like two mega pixels of light right now."

Brandon looked at Tecna, and the girl beamed. At least Bloom learned something from her. "Sorry. We left her in a dark closet. We wanted to see if she could find her way out."

"Think light," Flora said.

"I can't. When I think light, the fire pops up. Do you know how many gases there are in these tunnels? I feel suffocated breathing them all in. If this was a tunnel on Earth, I know I'd be dead from all the pressure and the gas. Isn't there some other way?" Bloom asked. "Why are things so different here than they are on Earth?"

"Well, whenever you want to start moving again, you have three or four more tunnels before we reach Cloud Tower. I suggest you do something to make it more comfortable down there," Musa replied.

Crap. "I have to go!" Tecna said, running away.

"Tecna, wait! What's going on with Bloom?" Brandon yelled.

But before he could catch her, they were all being rushed off to start the exhibition.

As the boys went through the exhibition, the blonde haired boy couldn't help but be nervous for Bloom wherever she was. If only he wasn't protecting what they had by not inviting her to the exhibition. But all the guys agreed to keep the girls away. Too bad it didn't work.

Looking up, he saw Diaspro and cringed. _Damn it! It wasn't supposed to be like this! _he thought.

Suddenly they saw Stella flying, spinning in circles and executing evasive moves in the air. The Trix appeared after her, and the crowd in the stands gasped at the sight of the princess defending herself against the witches.

"Leave me alone, you witches!" Stella yelled.

"No way, Pixie. Not when you have the Ring of Solaria," Stormy said.

All the Red Fountain boys got off their bikes and stood near each other, wondering what was going on.

"Stella!"

"Stella!"

"Stell!"

"Ste--ah!" another screamed.

They all heard the girls scream her name, and looked around. They couldn't see the girls anywhere, not even in the stands. Then Timmy smiled and took out his version of a walkie-talkie. "Tecna and I are always on the same channel. The thing was designed to work like that," he explained, raising the volume.

"Bloom, Darcy and Stormy ganged up on Stella. Where are you?" Musa asked. "Is everything okay?"

Then a chilling voice came on the walkie-talkie. "I'm sorry, Pixie. Bloom's not available right now," Icy said.

Flora and Tecna stood, standing at different sides of the stadium, and nodded to each other as they ran in synch to the ledge and jumped, activating their Winx in mid-air. They went immediately to help Stella, but now the boys were scared for Bloom. But before they could act on a plan, the ground rattled.

Icy groaned, slamming through the ground and making a gaping hole. When a voice was heard on the walkie-talkie, the boys couldn't help but laugh. "I told you guys I can't use my fire down there. Did anyone else hear that? The bang was deadly. And man, the crater I left," Bloom said, rising out of the debris. "Crap. Someone get the phone. It's ringing! There's a phone ringing people! Someone has to answer it already."

"All right, Pixie. I've had enough games with you!" Icy yelled, coming towards her.

A few moments later, she shook her head and got her bearings. "Go right ahead!" Bloom yelled back, rushing her as well. "You want a piece of me? You got the whole damn thing right back in your face!"

The two met in the middle and Riven heard a gasp above. Looking up, he saw Trixxi gasping, as if she was choking. When their mother and Trixxi's father died, she was sent to live with another royal family, but they were never told who she was.

All they knew was that she was now a princess, and had a powerful Winx she was too lazy to use. They knew she was Riven's sister, but he refused to tell who her father was. All they knew was her mother had been married twice--once to a commoner and once to the king of Sparx.

Only Riven and she knew a deadly truth: when she came too close to her twin, she would get sicker and sicker until she died. Her twin and she were too powerful to be near each too long. And the Dragon Powers wanted to be together, not separated.

_Well this helps, _he thought, rolling his eyes as he glared at his half-sister's new sister long enough to make her realize Riven wanted Trixxi out of there. Diaspro frowned and grabbed Trixxi's hand, dragging the girl out. _We've cut it down to half of Magix--the same half we already knew. Females, with Winx._

As Icy went to attack, Bloom thought ahead and spun, roundhouse kicking her in the jaw, before coming at her with fire. Icy bat the attack away, and hit her with ice. Bloom was ready for it and let out a giant wave of fire, melting the attack into water.

Suddenly, the moment reminded Bloom of Josh, when they would train together for fights and how she would sing when she fought. It always made her feel more powerful, if nothing else. How about now? She hadn't sung in so long she lost count, but it felt like Josh was there with her telling her to.

She thought of a song from Britney Spears, and suddenly she felt the beat surround her. It was always how she felt when she started to sing. She took years of lessons to play the guitar, but she still couldn't release the sound from her head. Her instructors called her stupid, while Bloom knew something was missing--keeping the sound in her.

"I'm Miss 'American Dream' since I was seventeen, don't matter if I step on the scene or sneak away to the Philippines." She went on hitting Icy with her physical skill, before getting to the chorus and belting a fireball to every "You want a piece of me?" she sang.

It was amazing, but she was more powerful when she sang as well. It just wasn't a song that fit with her.

Riven gaped in awe. _No! Don't tell me she has two of the powers. Trixxi…and Bloom? Crap, that leaves her in trouble._

"Bloom! What's going on?" Musa yelled through the walkie-talkie. "I'm clueless in my room. Tecna, how can you stand all these computers? I want to be in on this action."

Tecna froze as she let Flora and Stella fight Stormy and Darcy for a moment. "You mean you're not down there helping Bloom? I could have sworn I just heard singing. The Winx level intensified, so it would seem you were. Is everything okay down there?"

Timmy pressed the button, and let his voice be heard. "Tecna, it's Timmy. We want to help."

"Hey!" Bloom whined into the walkie-talkie, holding a barrier between her and Icy's next attack. "Who said I can't sing? That's one of the--"

"Eyes on me!" Icy yelled, rushing her again.

What happened next was all a blur to Bloom, and she fell. She banged her head and was paralyzed for the most part. But she knew what was going on around her, like the boy she was crushing on--Brandon--was holding her as another Winx pushed all the Trix away.

"Sky, are you okay?" Bloom heard the Winx ask. "How's the girl?"

"Her name's Bloom, Trixxi," she heard Brandon say.

What? Why was Brandon answering for Sky? She heard the commotion from the king of Eraklyon, and a girl yelling to Sky to let go of some peasant girl. The blow was taking its toll on Bloom, and she was going unconscious, but not before she put two and two together.

_Brandon lied to me. He's the real prince of Eraklyon. Which means Sky was really the squire sent to protect him. Stella is going to be so pissed._


	2. Chapter 2

"Is she going to be okay?" Flora asked Ms. Faragonda as they all waited above Bloom's clinic bed. Even Bloom's parents were there, the Magix barrier brought down for them.

"I'm not sure, Flora. It's up to Bloom if she is. She needs to fight to come back to us," the headmistress said.

The Red Fountain boys stood to the side of the bed, in shock. After they fought Icy to save Bloom, she and the Trix disappeared, and Trixxi made her short appearance to fight them. Riven was proud his half-sister was strong enough to still use all her powers, but he was sobered at the thought it may only be because her twin was dead or dying.

Hell, maybe all the powers would be sent to Trixxi if Bloom died first--if, in fact, they were twins.

At Ms. Faragonda's words, Bloom's adoptive parents started to cry. Her mother sobbed into Bloom's father's chest. "No, not again! Not when she was just moving past it!" she sobbed.

That froze everyone. Sky looked at her parents, and grimaced. But couldn't help from asking them. He was curious about the girl he held such deep feelings for. "What do you mean again?"

Not long after Trixxi--his soon-to-be-sister-in-law--chased the Trix away, his true identity was revealed. The blonde-haired boy whom everyone believed was the squire was revealed to be Prince Sky of Eraklyon, and the false Sky was the true Brandon.

Stella still wouldn't talk to Brandon for deceiving her.

Just then the door opened and Professor Codatorta walked through. All the boys looked at him, confused as to why he was there. He grimaced at Bloom and then looked to her parents. "Vanessa, Mike, how is she?" he asked, walking over to them and hugging them both at once.

"Scott, it's awful. She's in the same spot she was when she lost Josh!" Vanessa wailed. "I don't think she can make it through twice--she still hasn't forgiven herself once!"

The men looked at each other and nodded briefly. "Scott, it's very kind of you to come see Bloom when she's comatose. I'm sure she appreciates it," Mike said, smiling tightly. "Though I'm a bit surprised you can. I thought--"

"My job is the head of discipline at Red Fountain, the boys' school here. I also teach the Specialists how to fight. Besides, how could I ignore Bloom when she's hurt? No matter what happens, she'll always be my number-one girl. She feels like my daughter with all the time she spent with Josh."

The boys all stared at the scene, shocked. What the hell was going on? Their disciplinary master was off his rocker. And soft! How did he even know Bloom? This whole thing was confusing.

Tecna sighed. By the sounds of it, Bloom was working through a rough patch. If only she could see what her best friend was seeing…

She snapped her fingers and squealed, running to a piece of technology in the corner no one touched. It was a large TV monitor on a wheeling cart, a tube in the back running from a hole behind the TV to five feet behind. She set the tube to a part of the IV Bloom was hooked to, and the piece in the cart was drawn out to attach to the other side of the IV, making a circle.

"Tecna, what are you doing?" Timmy asked, fascinated.

Ms. Faragonda looked and smiled. "Miss Tecna is broadcasting all of Bloom's thoughts for us. Is that right, Tecna?"

She nodded and did a few short spells. Suddenly, Bloom was on the screen, much younger and laughing as a guy threw jelly beans at her.

"Josh, stop that! Be serious!" she squealed, having a whole cup poured down on her. "That's it! You're in for it now! Get back here and take your punishment like a real guy would, you dork!" she screamed, laughing as she picked up her own cup of jelly beans and started to chuck them at his retreating form.

Josh smiled as he ran. The guy in Bloom's dreams was good-looking and Sky couldn't help feeling a bit jealous. The way the grown-ups spoke, he was a huge part of Bloom's life. Josh had shaggy brown hair and warm brown eyes. His skin was pale, and somehow he reminded Sky of Professor Codatorta.

"No way, Bloom! I know what you'll do to me--I'm not that dumb! Now come on, I want you to see the basement!" he yelled, running to a door.

"Codatorta, I swear, you're worse than a two-year-old sometimes!" Bloom laughed, running into him. He hugged her and she laughed. "Besides, I've seen your basement like a hundred times before. I live next door to you, dufus."

Everyone's heads snapped towards the adults, shocked. Josh…Codatorta. Josh was the Professor's…son or nephew or something. And it was his son, he lived right next to Bloom. That would explain why the professor was so close to Bloom's parents.

"But you haven't seen it remodeled yet," he protested, grabbing her arm and bringing her down. "Come on, you'll love it!"

Bloom was laughing until she saw the basement. Then she gasped. "Josh, are you serious?" she asked, amazed. "Uncle Scott really let you do this? Does he know you did this? He's always away teaching at the boarding school."

Sky turned to the Professor. It was his son. Josh Codatorta was his son. Which meant the professor knew Bloom better than anyone. Such an amazing martial artist and Specialist lived on Earth…had a son that should be coming to Red Fountain soon.

The Sky remembered when he first met Bloom. She had been fighting the troll and ogre like a guy--martial arts instead of soft finesse and magic like other pixies. Right then he realized how close Bloom was to Professor Codatorta.

"Sure. I told Dad how amazing you were at singing and how Aunt Vanessa and Uncle Mike would never let you do this at your house, so…viola! After a month of renovations and getting the equipment, you have your very own recording studio!"

She squealed and jumped up and down, hugging him. "Josh, this is awesome. The best gift ever! I can really sing down here?" she asked, looking around and running into the recording area.

Her eyes were the size of saucers and Sky smiled at her childlike amazement. She was touching everything and held everything she could like it was delicate it would break.

Suddenly, Josh's voice broke the silence in the control room. "How about making a recording right now? I want to see if this stuff works. My voice sucked when I tried it."

Bloom laughed. "That's because you suck at singing! Leave it up to me--I'm going to be the famous singer someday, and you know it. No matter what Mom and Dad say, I will be. And you'll be right there next to me as I take on the world when you get out of Red Fountain, promise? Josh? Codatorta?" she asked.

"Of course. Now where's the mute button? I swear, there's a button to let me drown out the sappiness when you start to talk. Are you going to sing or what? You know I'll always have your back. You're my best friend, Bloom. They don't make best friends like you. Besides, I don't want to go to Red Fountain. I know how to fight, now I want to know how to be artistic."

"Great. They couldn't make a mute button for me? That's even more sappy!" she said, sitting down in front of a microphone. "Tell me when I can start."

Josh pressed a button and smiled. "Go!"

"I saw it in the news, you told me they were wrong, and I stood up for you, 'cause I believed you were the one," she started to sing. "You had all the chances in the world, to let me know the truth, what the hell's wrong with you?"

Sky looked towards Bloom's parents and saw them crying. Professor Codatorta looked torn between pride and pain, and it amazed Sky.

But the song hit something with him. Did she know? Was this somehow, in her subconscious about him? He was sure she had been awake long enough to realize his name wasn't Brandon, and he was engaged to Diaspro.

"Are you even listening when I talk to you? Do you even care what I'm going through? Your eyes stare and they're staring right through me, you're right there but it's like you never knew me. Do you even know how much it hurt, that you gave up on me to be with her? Revenge is sweeter than you ever were," she sang, smiling at Josh. Suddenly he took out a camera and she smiled and waved at it.

When the song ended, Josh came in and sat down on a stool next to her. "Talk. Now. What happened between you and that guy…Robby? Was this everyone's least-loved Ren again?"

Bloom shifted her eyes away and stayed silent. Finally, she looked Josh straight in the eye. "He broke up with me for her. Am I not pretty or something? Do I repel guys, or do I act too much like a guy? I don't get it. Why does every guy I date dump me for Ren? She dumps them in a month anyways! If feel like I'll never be able to fall in love!"

Josh snorted and smiled. "Good. I'd hate to lose my best friend. Bloom, you're only thirteen. Three-ten, barely a teen. Can't you wait to fall in love when you're at least in high school or something? Besides, you and I both know Ren's easy. There's nothing wrong with you unless you're willing to get screwed and possibly knocked up when you're still a minor."

Now Bloom laughed, and put a hand over her mouth. "Codatorta! That's so mean to say, no matter how true it is! Come on, I want to hear how the song sounded." He jumped up and ran out of the room, a click resounding after him. "Codatorta, you did not just lock me in here! Joshua Scott Codatorta, get your scrawny little ass back here and open this door!"

"No way, Bloom! I need some footage of you singing for a school project, so get back in there and sing. Sing, until your lungs get sore," he told her.

"You're still no Fallout Boy!" she yelled, walking back to her seat. "I swear, you'll be a famous filmmaker when you grow up. Either that, or you're following Uncle Scott into teaching martial arts and swordsmanship, and…what else did Uncle Scott teach me?"

"Bloom, come on now. Just shut up and sing!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. "I cant do it both at once!"

"Bloom!"

She laughed and started to think of a song. Then she got it. "Pop, pop! Pop, pop!" she sang, smiling. She got up and stood in front of the microphone and smiled as she swung her hips to the beat in her head.

"I hate to say it but they play this dance song in every club, but it's me so I'll show love, but it's me so show me love. When I walk in the room people stop and stare, it's like nobody else is there, you know it's me not you, who said anything about you? Boys and girls pretend to know me, they try so hard, and I get what I want, my name is my credit card, don't try to hate me because I am so popular…Pop, pop, popular! Pop, pop, popular!"

When the song finally ended, Josh laughed and pressed a button and it entered her recording room. "That song is so vain! I can't believe you could pull it off. I didn't even add in the music! All acapella, all right to the mark. The hell, girl?"

She looked shocked. Then smiled. "Let me hear!" she said. "Play the music, and my voice at the same time. 'Popular' by the Veronicas. Did I really hit that? I was thinking the beat in my head. Maybe I hit the beat for a different song."

"Man, this is perfect for school. My best friend, the sister I never had, the soon-to-be famous singer."

She laughed. "Josh, you have a sister. Darcy. Why don't you two ever see each other? Last time I saw her was my fourth birthday. I think that was the only day I ever saw her."

"Because she's evil, she's my half-sister, and I hate her guts, and she hates mine. The second you started to dance to it I knew what it was. If only your band was this good. You'd already be freakin' famous."

As the music blasted through with Bloom's voice attached, Sky was amazed at how professional it sounded to him. Musa smiled and clapped her hands to the beat. _This is perfect. It has to be…but it can't be. Can Bloom be…Trixxi's twin? This would be so cool!_

Musa excused herself from the room to go to her room. From her room, she got out her cell phone and called Trixxi, her parents goddaughter, and her uncle's daughter.

Her uncle, Oritel, had been the king of Sparx when it was still alive, but it was destroyed by the coven of witches searching for the Dragon Fire. The Dragon Powers had been separated between Trixxi and her twin since birth. The Fire was in Trixxi's twin, while Trixxi had Water. They had the opposing forces, like Yin and Yang.

_Bloom has Fire, Trixxi has Water. If Trixxi has Music and Bloom has Voice…does Bloom have Voice or is she just really good? Trixxi has the Ice, so Bloom would have the Heat, and Trixxi has the Light…Bloom has the Dark. What's going on? Who's Trixxi's twin?_

"Hello? Musa?" Trixxi asked.

"Hey, Trixxi. I was wondering how you were," Musa started, just talking to the girl.

Trixxi was worth her name. She and her twin had been so mischievous as kids. When Musa's mother went to christen her, her mother ended up christening them both. But her mother also died in the incident at Sparx because she was there for the two's birthday. They were turning one, and it was special.

Musa had just been brought home with Trixxi's half-brother when he was leaving with his dad. She didn't remember any of it, though. She was only three years old herself. The boy would remember. He'd be four at the time, making him the same age as Brandon and Sky and Timmy and Riven.

* * *

Back in the room, people started to leave to find dinner. Sky and Riven stayed rooted to chairs placed right in front of the screen. Sky wanted to know what was with Josh, and Riven wanted to see if he could tell it was his half-sister or not.

Stella was sleeping on the couch, and hugging Brandon close, tears down her eyes. She still hadn't forgiven him, but he was a shoulder to cry on and she needed it, and Brandon would take any excuse to be around her still. Flora was sitting on the bed next to Bloom, stroking her hand. Tecna and Timmy joined the adults on their quest for food.

Soon she woke up and parted from Brandon to his great disappointment.

"What…the hell…was that?" Josh asked as the band finished recording. Anyone with ears knew how horrible it was.

"I…have no…freakin'…clue," Bloom replied in the same manner, looking behind her.

Her band sucked.

"Well, it would sound a lot better if someone didn't hog the vocals," a black-haired girl sniped, sticking her nose into the air. "From all my years of experience being a top-singer at my conservatory, I know that I can more than master the lyrics."

"Good, because you can't master the drums, apparently. Even Bloom can play that--all you do is hit it in time to the beat," Josh muttered, making Bloom laugh and the girl glare at him. "Ren, go ahead. Try the same song. Bloom, get your ass up here. I don't want any cheating, okay?"

Sky watched as Bloom sat down next to Josh in a swivel chair, and spun it around in circles. Josh let Ren start singing and sent it straight to recording. Neither he or Bloom needed to listen to a dying cat. "She's pissing me off!" Bloom said. "She's been spending too much time with Mitzi--Ren's starting to act just like the bitch."

"I know. She flirts with me any chance she gets," he replied. "Besides, how am I supposed to use stuff like that in school video footage? I need to ace my class, not give my teacher a headache."

"I swear, you spend way to much time in film class. Do you ever focus on your other classes? English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Italian? Your other two are some kind of film classes," she said, fumbling with headphones.

"Don't play with those," he told her, snatching them away. "Man, no wonder Ren flirts with me--she must think we're dating. You know she only goes for your boyfriends."

"Gee, ya think?" Bloom asked, sarcastic. "Pete, Luke, Robby, Ken, Adam, Marshall…"

Josh laughed and looked at the recording side. "She's still at it?"

"Duh. She's holding her notes. I don't get it. I _know_ I'm better than her. I can sing it German, French, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Arabic, Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Swahili even…And she still thinks she's better than me?"

"Bloom, honey, not everyone can speak every language known to mankind," Josh said, looking at her like talking to a kid. "Only you can. I'm having problems with Italian. Hey, stay late and help with some extra footage?"

"Of course, dear," she said, rolling her eyes. "Didn't you tell Mom and Dad I was sleeping over? By the way, are we two again? Having slumber parties? Dude, you told my mom we were having a _slumber party_. Dork much."

"But we _always_ sleep over. What's wrong with slumber party?"

"The fact that it's something grade school _girls_ say, not a freshman boy. No matter how much they resemble grade school sleep-overs. Remember when we popped some popcorn and talked about boys while we watched chick flicks? You're like my straightest gay friend ever. It's so awesome to have a friend like that."

Josh laughed. "I thought my head would blow up if I had to sing 'Barbie Girl' one more time. At least the next day was snack food, football, and talking about chicks. You're like my straight lesbian friend. We go together so well, huh? Breaking down barriers for each other to be comfortable."

"Yeah…I guess we do," Bloom said, thinking and smiling softly. "I don't think I would have gotten the nerve to ever talk to a guy if it weren't for you."

"As for you and getting me to talk to girls. I never would have met Melissa or Jessica or Laney or Lee, or Veronica…"

"I know. God, I turned you into a _manwhore_," Bloom teased, laughing. She hit his arm playfully, and the two got into a slap-fight.

Suddenly it flashed ahead to Bloom alone in the studio, Josh recording her and taping her dance and sing with a mike and stand. "They say they don't trust you, me, we, us," she started to sing.

She went through the song, and thought up a new one fast. She had a look, and then smiled. "Oh, Josh, my dear bestest best friend that should be my brother?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"What do you want?" he asked, knowing the routine.

"Can you get a disconnected phone to start me off?" she asked, dropping the sweet voice. "I'm an a very Veronicas mood. Let see…I wan to do 'Did Ya Think' now, 'Untouched,' 'Nobody Wins,' 'All I Have,' 'Popular' definitely--"

"That's like your favorite song!" he whined.

"Duh. I sang it the first day you showed me this place. I want to sing 'This is How it Feels,' '4Ever,' and the revenge song too. Revenge is Sweeter, or something," she said, smiling and tracing a hand over a guitar. "Want to hear me play? I swear I got better."

"Bloom, you better have gotten better since your last botch-up. You've been taking lessons since you were six. You're right there with it."

"I know, but something's missing. I know where my hands should go, but they won't. It's like the music in me is on vacation," she said, making Riven's eyes pop.

That's how Trixxi talked about singing.

"Yeah, now if only your voice could follow it. An hour--a whole day--of silence. Is the music in the magic world, too, Bloom?" he asked.

"Of course. Remember when I used to pretend to be a fairy? I'd wear those nylon wings in my closet and twirl around," she said, looking dreamy.

Josh laughed as he played with the buttons on the camera, looking up at her every few seconds. He had matured, and Flora and Stella whispered about how hot Josh had gotten. He was always cute, but now he was amazing.

"More like fell down on your ass. I swear, you only wanted to fight because you'd never make it as a ballerina. Watch, there's going to be someone out there who can do everything you can't, and play any instrument. Won't speak a million languages, but she'll be as smart as you and everything."

Bloom laughed, tracing her hand over a drum as she raised her leg and spun around a pole. "She'd be a great ice-skater." She stopped and turned to Josh. "I remember when I was six and I was saying how I wanted a unicorn, and I'd live in a magical world with witches and wizards and fairies, where everyone uses pixie dust all the time."

The boy laughed and smiled at her too. "I remember. You had the most ridiculous thoughts about a world of magic. That's nothing like magic."

She smiled ruefully and bit her lower lip. "You said the world of magic would still amaze me, no matter how old I got, and I would belong to it. But you said there was no unicorns, or pixie dust. Are you still sure about that?"

"Are you still six?" he teased. "God, Bloom, I thought you were past that by now."

And then a voice was heard over everything. _"How did you know, Josh? How did you know everything I didn't? I never got to ask you. I never got to say goodbye, either."_

Sky knew that voice. It was Bloom. She was thinking about her own memories.

Musa came in again, and sat down in another seat to Riven's side, not speaking to him. Ever since he started to see Darcy, she didn't talk to him much and it unnerved him. He didn't know why either, but it seemed everyone was against him seeing Darcy.

But Musa just seemed as if she was done trying to win him.

Every so often, a random birthday or event showed up, from before or after the recording room was built. Musa agreed with the girls that Josh was hot, and it got the boys kind of mad. This guy they didn't even know was taking their girls away. Well, technically they weren't their girls.


	3. Chapter 3

Bloom mostly remembered singing and fighting, even some little dance recitals from when she was four to maybe seven, but Josh was always in it. At one point, her father Mike even said to her, "You two are always together, I'd take you as twins or as boyfriend and girlfriend."

"_What was it?" _Sky heard Bloom think when this was on. _"What was it that made us so close? You told me we were cousins, but cousins aren't that close. You and Darcy weren't that close, and you two were siblings. I never did meet her. You always said it'd be bad. Maybe we were soul-mates. Maybe we had the _same_ soul. What was it? Why didn't you ever tell me? Josh!"_

It was another day--or another night. Bloom was out in front of her house on a porch, swinging and laughing with her rabbit, Kiko, as she sang.

"I wear a disguise, I'm just your average Jane, the super doesn't stand for model, but that doesn't mean I'm plain, if all you see is how I look you'll miss the Superchick within," she sung, catching a noise.

Josh locked the door to his house and walked out with a box filled high with tapes. It was a common sight to Bloom, but something was off. Josh never went out without offering for her to go with him. She never did, but he at least offered.

"Josh!" she yelled, running off the swing and to him. She smiled and took the box, noticing the tapes neatly arranged around a smaller box opened to reveal CDs with labels like "December Seventh" with songs listed. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Going to edit some footage. What to come?" he asked.

"Actually, yeah," she said, her eyes bright.

His face fell. "Bloom, no! You never want to come!" he said.

Ha. She knew it. He was hiding something. "Are you going to tell me what you're doing?" she asked, walking to the car. "You know I'm not about to leave."

He sighed. "Fine. Hurry up, it'll be a long night."

They got in the car, and Sky watched him drive onto the highway. Somehow he knew this was different than all the other times he watched the two drive.

Mike, Vanessa, and Professor Codatorta walked in and the professor froze. Definitely not the same. "This was it," he said, looking sad. "This is what I should have been there for. Damn it!" he yelled, stalking back out the door, the parents following as Tecna and Timmy entered.

"What happened?" they asked. "What did we miss?"

"Not much. You've been gone for a few hours, though," Stella mumbled, getting up and looking at the monitor again. After a few scenes that the girls agreed Josh was hot, Stella had gone back to sleep on top of Brandon. She woke up again at the commotion, ready to go back to sleep on her comfy pillow.

"Sorry. Bloom's mom was a little emotional. She wanted us to wait for her to get it together," she apologized.

"All right, ready to hear the secret?" they heard Josh say on the screen, and everyone's attention was back on it. "I have an interview for you. As in, an actual meeting with a music producer. I sent him some demos I made of you, and he wants to meet with me about signing you. Turn the camera on," he told her.

She laughed and turned it on. "Josh, that's so great. I don't know what to say--you're the best! I'm never ever going to have a friend as great as you!"

He smiled. "Point the camera at me. It's a long trip to the company, and I want to document it so people will know the story of how you became a star."

When he saw the camera trained on him, he took a second to check the road and darted his eyes between the camera and the road ahead. "Hey, Bloom, it's Josh! I know this seems stupid now, but someday you'll be flipping through your old home videos and you know you'll watch every second of this. Especially 'cause I, your best friend the supreme awesome person, am in it."

He paused and changed lanes before coming back to the camera. "Every song you ever sang is in the back of my car, and all the footage of you I've ever taken of you has now been made into music videos to the songs. Yes, I am a devoted best friend. Just remember that when you're shooting new music videos."

Bloom laughed and turned the camera to herself. "Hey, me of the future. Guess what the best person in your life just did? He got you an interview with a record company. You're halfway to being famous. And there's nothing Mom and Dad can do about it, because they don't even know yet…Actually, they don't even know you left with Josh. Oops."

"Bloom," Josh growled. "Am I going to get in trouble for that later?"

"Nah. They won't be so mad when I come home with a contract. Don't worry," she said, breezy as she winked at the camera. "So, if you ever wonder who loves you, Josh definitely loves you like his own sister. Look at all he's doing for you--always does." She turned it back to Josh. "Isn't that right?"

He looked straight into the lens, and Sky could see it zoom in on his face. "I'd give my life for you," he told her and the camera.

"_No!" _Sky heard Bloom scream. _"Why'd you say it? Josh, you idiot! No! I love you! Don't say that, now or ever!"_

He knew how it'd end out now, Sky thought. Bloom would get a contract, and something bad would happen to her. Josh would give up his own life just to save her.

And yet, Josh smiled, and went back to driving. Bloom taped him saying more motivational words, and speaking to the Bloom of the future. She laughed and they sang along to music. Bloom was right, Josh couldn't sing, but Bloom sounded like an angel.

They drove through the night and came to a giant building. Bloom looked at Josh, and he smiled reassuringly at her as he brought in the box. "We're here to see Mr. Roberts? I have an appointment. Josh Codatorta."

A girl not much older than them smiled and checked a book. "Yes, right here. And this must be the singer you're agreeing about," she said, looking at Bloom and shaking her hand. "This boy came in a few weeks ago with some of your music. I've never heard a more amazing voice, or another singer bring up so much talk about being signed. Good luck, kiddo."

Bloom smiled and was led to a giant office with Josh. They were instructed to wait, and Bloom turned to Josh. "Mr. Roberts, as in Jordan Roberts? As in, the most influential man in the recording industry? The lead singer in Famous Fatality? How did you pull that off? He hasn't signed anyone since--"

"My last band went triple platinum in the first month of sales for their debut CD," the man said, smiling as he walked in, shaking hands with them both. "I see you know me."

"Are you kidding? I worshipped Famous Fatality!" Bloom said, amazed and smiling. It was like a light bulb was turned on when she shook his hand. "A rock band from the early nineties that started an epidemic of screaming boys and girls. Made twelve CDs and retained fame until early two thousand two when the band broke up. You wanted to go solo, and made three albums of your own that all reached triple platinum within a week of sales, before retiring for your record company," she recited from memory.

Jordan Roberts did not look old. In fact, he looked like he could be in his early thirties. He smiled, and green eyes sparkled. "You really were a fan. All right, how did I get this company?"

"It was your stepfather's company, and he signed you and your stepbrother on as a joke. You two ended up making a famous band, and you bought it from him with your savings from the album sales. After that you changed the company's image, marketing…virtually recreated it from the ground up," she recited proudly. "I always wanted to get signed here."

Jordan smiled, then turned to Josh. "You were right to bring her here first."

As they talked, Jordan would ask Bloom random questions meant to stump her, but she answered flawlessly. He asked everything from his age--which was thirty-eight--to what his zip code was. Then he asked her a serious question. "And why do you want me to sign you to Flaming the Fire Records?"

Bloom smiled. He was finally giving her an easy question. "Because in nineteen-ninety-one, a boy came in with his stepbrother asking their dad to let them be a famous rock band. The dad signed them more out of humor than belief they'd do well, and a band was created that made the teenagers millionaires before they could even drive.

"They were--no offense--nobodies at that time, and this record company played a part in making them the biggest band since AC/DC and Kiss. Everyone knows them now, and the lead singer turned himself into an icon for business tycoons, humanitarians, eco-awareness…"

Jordan smiled and Bloom continued. "The drummer went on to be a music and songwriter for new artists using state of the art technology for paraplegics, the back-up singer--your brother--became an actor, and has an amazing family. The guitarist and bassist went on to be a fashion designer and a model combination…They all went on to be something great, even after they stopped singing.

"That's why I want to be signed under Flaming the Fire. It's most-recognized band went on to do memorable things after their career, and during their career had no scandals. I want to be like Famous Fatality. I want to be known for my voice, not for what I did clubbing the week before, because I don't want to be clubbing. I want to be a name people will always remember, and can put to something greater than music when I'm done."

Jordan smiled, and led the two to a recording studio. "Now, Josh here gave me a few of your songs, but I want to see how you do on a few of my original songs."

She looked at the sheet in pure joy, and waited to be allowed to start singing. She never heard the music, but she sang to the beat. She could see Josh and Jordan conversing, and Josh had his camera out recording it. She smiled, and went on singing.

Almost three hours later, she was done and signing a six-album contract for two years. Jordan explained they would use the songs she had now, and make the CDs out of what they recorded today and what Josh had recorded today. It was all explained in the video, and Josh knew from their earlier dealing, as well as what was in the contract.

"We just have one more thing to deal with," the business tycoon said, motioning in a huge Asian man Bloom had never met before. "This is Kanon. He's to be your bodyguard when we start you touring and making appearances. Doesn't speak much English, but he's our best bodyguard. Used to be mine. That's how I learned Japanese. Josh thought…"

"Josh," Bloom warned. She turned to him and gave him a glare. "Do I _look_ like I need a bodyguard?" she asked.

"Well, do you want the truth?" he asked.

"Don't answer that." She knew she did. But she didn't need one and that was the point she wanted to make. She turned to Kanon and bowed. "Gomenasai, Kanon-sama," she said, perfect accent flowing through her words.

Musa smiled and high-fived Flora. "Now that's what I'm talking about! I knew Bloom was holding out when I asked her what languages she could speak!"

Riven held in a laugh as to Musa's childish antics. All Bloom did was speak in a different Earth language to the guy. If she really was Trixxi's twin, that was like batting an eye.

The people in the monitor quickly ended their conversation, and Bloom was whisked off to take a few quick pictures. It was such a fast transition for Bloom into a star. She never thought anyone would try to make her one so fast, but Josh swore it was because they wanted to start selling her as quick as possible, and make sure no one tried to sway her to another label.

She laughed and smiled, and posed goofily and serious and sultrily and innocently. By the end of the day, she was wiped, and happy. Josh and she left with some pictures and designs for her debut CD and even some quick-spun versions of her music and music videos, which Josh had at his house anyways.

"The first CD comes out in a month, and appearances will start in three," Jordan told her as she walked out.

But that's when it all went wrong.

Bloom was laughing and smiling as she listened to her voice from the studio CD. The camera was still out, and she panned it over to Josh. "Hey Josh?" she asked. "Promise me no matter what happens, we'll always be together forever? Like, I never have to lose you."

"Of course, Bloom. What gave you the idea anyone could ever separate us? We're special. I bet we have the same piece of a soul or something, because we're forever. I don't think I could love you as anything more than a sister, but I'll love you forever."

"Good, because I only love you as a brother. It's just…Uncle Scott let it slip…Next year you're going to Red Fountain. That's so far away, I just want to make sure you won't forget me."

"Of course I won't," he said. "Like you'd forget me. I better get the first copy of every one of your CDs and hear ever single on my radio. And don't forget who made you a star. Wow, my baby girl's already got a recording contract and she's still so little. Most singers are still in conservatories right now. I'm so proud," he said, faking a sniffle and pretending to wipe away a tear.

She laughed, and hit him in the arm. "Hilarious Josh. Freakin' hilarious," she said. Then she panned onto the road. "What the hell? He's in our lane!" Bloom yelled, watching a car drive straight towards them. "Josh, do something."

"I'm trying, damn it! Hold on!" he yelled, swerving.

It didn't work, and everyone watched the monitor in sick fascination as the car barreled into Bloom and Josh's side, making them flip and fly off the road. Sky wanted to hit something, stop Bloom's screaming somehow.

When everything stopped spinning, Bloom and Josh were tipped upside-down in the car and Bloom was bleeding profusely, half her body on the roof off the car because she wasn't buckled in.

Her vision was dim, and she turned to look at Josh, the colors darkening. "Josh…" she croaked.

"Don't…worry Bloom," he panted, also in pretty bad shape. "Someone will…be here soon. Just…hang in there. Go to sleep."

"Not yet. Josh, what if they don't come?" she asked. "Don't fall asleep on me. Please."

She kept him up long enough to hear sirens in the distance. They quizzed each other about random things from their past and their day in the studio, but every word, every syllable was harder to get out than the last. Still, they pressed on in an effort to keep each other alive and awake to be rescued.

"Bloom…if we don't…make it…I need you…to know the truth…We're cousins…My side…of the family…is…And you have…"

And then she shut her eyes.

Sky couldn't believe it. He never saw it coming. They were in an accident. Bloom was almost killed in a car crash. But what happened after that? She had grown a few years since the crash, and he wanted to know what happened.

Riven was gaping. If this really was his half-sister, he just watched his cousin's entire life pass away in front of him. He wasn't dumb. He knew how to put things together. They both died…

Wait. No they didn't. He was here watching Bloom possibly dying right now. Never mind. So maybe Josh moved away or something. When he was able to move again, he was brought to live with his half-sister Darcy or something.

Why did that name strike a bell? It couldn't be his Darcy…could it?

Then he mentally slapped himself. Josh died, Bloom lived. It wasn't that hard.

* * *

The answer didn't come until eleven the next morning. They had been watching Bloom, and Professor Codatorta had come back in with Bloom's parents. He had allowed the boys all permission to stay, and the girls fought to stay as well. They all refused to leave their friend until she woke up or died.

They were hoping for the former with every fiber of their beings.

"Are you sure you're feeling better, Scott?" Mike asked.

"Positive. It's just…Still hard, you know? I've watched the film, I've told myself a thousand times that I couldn't have done anything, but I know there's something I'm missing. Something that would have changed it all," he said, looking at Bloom.

The monitor was a blur of colors, memories going at super-speed and flashes brought to the forefront of it all. Bloom was jumbled in her head, and had been since her memory of the accident ended the night before.

It was almost haunting. The only noise distinguishable was the laughter of children playing, and Bloom as a child speaking to Josh. And then, somehow there were thoughts and words from when Bloom was too young to have ever remembered.

People talking about her being a beautiful baby, how she would be loved all through her life, people talking about politics over her bed and kingdoms and magic…certainly things she never remembered.

_Back in Time_

At some point when the others were asleep, Sky had been up listening to her memories. One memory came to the front and played out like the ones with Josh. In fact, he was in this one, too.

Bloom was a small infant, stuck in her crib. A boy with the same warm brown eyes was leaning over the decorative crib and making faces at her, poking her and tickling her. He'd kiss her forehead, and hug her on occasion , then go back to harassing her. Bloom laughed and smiled, enjoying herself and the boy.

"Josh, stop that," a lady told him, scolding him softly as she hugged him from behind.

"But, Aunt Miriam!" he whined. "She's too cute to leave alone! She's so adorable…" He sniffed the air and shook his head. "Until she acts like a baby again. Auntie, Auntie! Bloom needs a diaper change!"

Miriam laughed and picked her daughter up. She muttered a spell and the air was clear, the diaper changed. She smiled and held her daughter as she tucked her nephew under her arm. "Josh, what am I going to do with you? Have you seen the other miscreant?"

He shook his head. "Bloom's my favorite. You can keep me around for all of Bloom's life, just so she has a protector. I can be her best friend--her guardian!"

"Josh, sweetheart, that's what Daphne does. She watched over the two of them, and makes sure they're always okay. But you can always be Bloom's best friend," Miriam said, smiling as a baby rammed right into her leg. "There you are, you little trixter. How did you get away?"

The baby, identical to Bloom except for hair, smiled and looked at Josh and Bloom expectantly. The same second Bloom started to squirm in her mother's arms to be let down. When she was, Josh took them both into his arms, and smiled. "Twin babies!" he shrieked.

Bloom blew a raspberry and her twin laughed, clapping. They looked at each other, and started to laugh before, Bloom yelled, "Joshy, do something!"

Sky's jaw dropped. In the video, Bloom couldn't be more than a year old. And she could talk already and not just baby-blabber? Josh had to be like four then, anyways, so why was Bloom so young now? It wasn't like anything changed.

But then, something clicked for Sky. He remembered what Bloom told him about her parents adopting her. They found her in a fire. They would have no clue how old she was, and if she could talk like that he would assume she was older as well.

Bloom was actually much younger than everyone in the room. She wasn't old enough to be at Alfea.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked, turning to Miriam. "Auntie, can I play with them?"

Miriam smiled and Bloom spoke again. "Anything! Do anything. Trixxi and I want to play now. Right Trixxi? Do something, Josh--play Princess and Ogres with us!"

Josh sighed and looked at the other twin. Sky had problems keeping his head screwed on right. "It depends on how Trixxi's feeling today. You two haven't been using Winx lately, have you? Too much and you know Trixxi gets sick."

It _was_ Trixxi! She had onyx hair with red and blue highlights, proof she had them since she was a baby, and that they were natural, no matter how fake they looked. She had the same blue eyes and always and she looked happier--and a lot more mischievous.

That was the thing about the girl. When she was young, she had been adopted by Diaspro's family, and she was the first in the family that Sky was comfortable with--and still the only one. She felt like a true sister. And she was always pulling pranks, on anyone and everyone.

"Joshy, I'm fine. Nothing can happen to me until I'm older," she said, smiling. Yeah, that was Trixxi. She even sounded the same, like a smart-ass you had to watch out for. "And Bloom and I are still working on a cure."

Bloom smiled at Trixxi. "Even if the powers suck each other up, Trixxi will be here forever," she said.

Josh sighed. "I'm talking to babies, and I feel like I'm talking to adults. This is so weird. You two are turning one today. _Act like it_. Stop talking and start going goo-goo gah-gah for me, okay?" he asked.

"Just admit it Josh. You're stuck with--" Trixxi started, interrupted by Miriam laughing.

"You two leave Josh alone now. Bloom, do you want to meet your future husband now?" she asked, taking the two from Josh. "He just showed up with his parents, and he looks very bored."

Bloom rolled her eyes. "Mommy, I don't want one if Trixxi doesn't have one! How do all those kings figure out to marry us all off?" She turned to Trixxi. "Want to be me for today?"

Suddenly Bloom's father walked in, laughing and kissing both his baby-daughters on the head. "Bloom, you never cease to amaze an old man," he said, ruffling her short hair. For babies, they were somewhat tall and thinning out already into an infant's body. "You have a husband because you'll rule someday."

Now Sky was really interested. How cool would it be if he could tell Bloom she was going to rule her own kingdom someday when she grew up? Now all he had to do was find out what kingdom it was.

"But why can't Rivy rule? Guys are supposed to rule, and he's the oldest," she pointed out innocently.

Oritel sighed. "Bloom, sweetie, he isn't my son. He is your brother, but not my son. I would gladly take him as my own son, but he can never rule because of his parenting. Which leaves you my eldest, and so I need you to rule when I'm gone."

Suddenly it ended, and Sky frowned. The screen went back to flashing other memories, and thoughts of time. Some were even about the Winx, and he heard Bloom think in her dreams about Josh, and how far away they were, no matter what they promised.

Eventually Sky fell asleep, missing the next memory that played out.

One that showed the end of Sparx, and Bloom giving him a chaste kiss goodbye on his cheek.


	4. Chapter 4

The scariest part to Riven as they watched her memories fly by and listen, was when he made out his own voice being projected through the monitor. If he didn't have tapes of himself as a child, he wouldn't have known. But still, he knew it was his voice, and it was enough for him to assume.

But she was the wrong age. Trixxi was three years younger than them--something wasn't right. Either this was a string of coincidences, or Bloom was three grades ahead. And Riven wasn't sure which one he wanted to be the truth.

Then, it froze. Everything was black and everyone turned to the screen. Slowly, Bloom's eyes opened on the monitor and the adults rushed to her, hugging her and embracing her. A different group of friends piled around her, having waiting for her to wake up.

Everyone was chattering on the screen--her band was there, her parents, Mike's only brother and his family--two sons around Bloom's age and two twin daughters much younger, near seven or eight. "See? Bloomy was sleeping," one said to the other. "Mommy, tell Felicia Bloomy was sleeping!"

"No, she wasn't, Brittany. It can be compared to a great sleep, but so can death. It's more like a state of deep internal meditation. Bloom was in a catatonic state for the duration of--" the other started, obviously the smarter of the two sisters.

"Felicia, enough," her father said. "Yes, Brittany, Bloom's been asleep. And now look--she's waking up."

"I swear, Vanessa, I wish I had a daughter like Bloom. She's no genius, but she's not dumb to say the least. You have no idea how hard it is to live with a genius," she said, looking pointedly at Felicia. "They refuse to listen to anyone else."

"_Felicia's not even smart. She has no clue what she means. She just strings big words together she heard on TV. Go at her, Mom. I hate the bragging witch _and_ the daughter."_

"Bloom, sweetie, how are you?" Vanessa asked, ignoring her sister-in-law. "You've been in a coma for two months now."

"_Not cool, Mom. Not cool at all,"_ Bloom scolded in her head.

"Bloom, baby, what the hell happened?" Mike asked. "You left without telling anyone where you were going, and we get a call you're in the hospital. Were you running away or something? Were you mad at us? Bloom, sweetie, what were you and Josh doing?"

In the real world next to the still comatose Bloom, Vanessa started to cry again. "Sweetie. I should have known. Josh always called her that."

Indeed, Bloom looked like she was concentrated on the word, even mouthing it. Then it hit her. Bloom's eyes grew wide and she sat up abruptly. "Josh," she croaked, looking around. "Where's Josh?"

This was it. Riven was sure he'd hear he was still in a coma or a vegetable for life, or that he died. He got it but it was worse than he thought.

Professor Codatorta shook his head. "Bloom, Josh…He's--"

"Uncle Scott, don't say it," she said, already teary-eyed. "It wouldn't be funny. Where is he?"

"He's dead, Bloom," the professor said, sighing. "He died on the operating table. He had a lacerated spleen, his lung was punctured, he had internal bleeding. He--"

"Was better off than I was," she protested. "Uncle Scott, he can't be dead. Josh was wearing his seatbelt. I wasn't. If either of us had to die, it would be me, not Josh. I should have head trauma and whiplash and a broken spine--neck, head even. He should be here…"

"Bloom, he died," Mike told her as Vanessa went to hug her. "I know how close you two were--"

"Best friends, keepers of secrets, soul-twins…We were more than close. It was like we were each other. He knew everything about me--even how I was feeling, and I knew everything about him. Josh can't be dead, guys. He told me we'd be friends forever," Bloom said.

The professor on the monitor looked pained. "Bloom, you know I'd never want to say my son is dead, but he is. And I guess he kept one secret from you. He--"

"Was planning to take me to get a recording contract," she said, bent low and eyes cast down. "He wanted to go alone, but I made him take me with him. It was supposed to be an adventure."

She heard a voice in the corner, and looked up at a TV that was on. MTV was playing a music video, and Bloom gasped. There she was, in a music video Josh had made. It was real. She had become a singer with a recording contract, and Josh had left her, all in the same day.

She was on the screen, break dancing to a rap song in a sports bra and warm-up pants. Then in went to her boxing, and her singing the song.

"_Josh always was amazing with a camera," _Bloom said. _"Everyone should remember his name. Everyone should remember him. He's the best."_

Brandon and Sky snuck a look at the professor when they heard Bloom's thoughts, and smiling sadly as he choked back tears.

Back on the monitor, Bloom watched the song fade away with a picture of Josh and she with their arm around their shoulders, and smirking at the camera. Bloom's free-hand was placed on her cocked hip as if to say she was that good, and Josh's free-hand was fisted in front of him as if restraining from punching the camera.

A man, whom Bloom knew to be the host of TRL, came on the screen. "All right, all right. That was Number Two this week, Bloom singing 'Remember the Name.' Now you all know the deal with Bloom by now. She just got signed to Flaming the Fire, when she and her best friend got in a car accident on their way home. That picture was the last one ever taken of the two. Up now, is Number One, 'Popular' done by Bloom."

She choked at a smile at the sight. While she was singing the "Pop, pop," all that was there was her mouth and the microphone. Then she went on to smile and wink at the camera--but Bloom knew she was really doing it for Josh.

The video played on, but Bloom focused on her family. "Where did Ren go? Wasn't she here a second ago?" she asked.

"She needed to make a phone call," a boy said, sitting down on the bed next to her and hugging her. "Bloomy, we were so scared! We heard you and Josh went to see Jordan Roberts, and crashed." He slapped her softly and Bloom winced. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry Bloom!" he apologized.

"S'okay, Nick," she told him, hugging him back frailly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys. I just…it was such an impulse, I wanted to go so bad. And now I killed my best friend," she sobbed, hugging him as hard as she could. "Nick, you must hate me!"

He shushed her, and patted her hair. "No, baby girl, no. How can I hate my little girl? You did nothing wrong, and Josh wouldn't blame you either. He'd be happy you're okay--he'd be pissed if he heard you blaming him."

"He'd blame himself if you died," another girl said, smiling softly as she sat on Bloom's other side and played with Bloom's hair. It seemed to sooth Bloom, and then the girl hugged Bloom too. "Bloom, I'm so glad you're okay."

"I'm not," she sobbed, hugging the girl too. "Zo, I killed Josh. I can just see how Kerry's going to be when I see her." She looked up to see Nick and the girl--Zo--give each other a look over her head. "Zoey? What are you two hiding?" Bloom asked.

"Josh and Kerry kind of broke up. Like, before this even blew in. Slut's going out with half the football team now. It's strange how she got all jealous that you and Josh were like surgically attached, but she found it fine to screw the entire basketball team," Zoey replied. "Now she's screwing football, make her way through track, get to baseball."

Felicia--Bloom's little cousin--walked over and tapped Zoey's shoulder. "Do you have to say vulgar words and hint at sexual acts in the presence of little kids?" she asked sweetly.

Bloom rolled her eyes then smiled sweetly. "Felicia, sweetie, come here," she said. Felicia walked over and smiled at Bloom, thinking she was saying something special to her. Instead Bloom glared at her. "Go take Brittany, Jake and the grown-ups and get out so I can talk to my friends," she said getting a protest from the younger of the two cousins. "Jake, have you ever had a girlfriend, or gotten laid?" she asked.

Blushing, he admitted to having a girlfriend. At this, he was allowed to stay, only to walk out seconds later when he realized everyone was talking much more comfortably about sex than he was. Bloom smiled and pounded her fist against her older cousin, who was several years older and by the looks of it eighteen or nineteen.

"Luke, how did that boy ever get a girlfriend?" she asked him.

"The girl dragged him out on a date. Older, too. It was so cute, until she realized he was younger," he replied, laughing as he sat back down. Not long after Ren walked in, smiling and tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Do you wash your hair with shit?" Luke asked.

"No, why?" she asked, smiling at him.

Zoey leaned over and whispered to Bloom, making the girl laugh. When Nick asked what was so funny, Bloom mouthed the word, "Whore."

"Because as soon as you walked in I could smell bullshit," he replied. "Who were you calling?"

She glared at him and gave him a snarl before sitting down. "So, what are we talking about?"

Bloom smiled and looked at her friends. "Well, we were talking about Slut for awhile, but I don't think we should now that you're here. So, how's my career been while I've been sleeping?" she asked, smiling and laughing. "It's so weird to think I have a career."

Zoey smiled and hugged her friend, but Bloom caught that second when her face was glaring and accused Bloom for killing Josh. Everyone in the room with Bloom now saw it, and Stella held back a laugh when she heard Bloom's mind say, _"I saw that, Zo."_

"It's been great. You haven't even lifted a finger and your first CD went triple platinum. In the first week. Josh always said you'd be a star," she said, innocently putting a jab at Bloom.

The girl's eyes dropped. _"I never will be forgiven. I killed him. I killed him, and I went on living like it was okay! Why? I should be in the ground right next to him."_

It went on to project when Bloom got home, and her parents wanted her to get ready for dinner because Jordan was coming to talk to her and reevaluate the contract.

"Guys, there's not much to it. When he gets here, I'm going to tell him I quit. He can do whatever he wants with everything he's done--the music, the shooting, whatever--but I'm not going to sing ever again, and that's all that needs to be known."

"But Bloom, sweetie, you love to sing," her mother said.

"I did. And I loved Josh more. How am I supposed to go on singing, knowing that I killed my best friend just so I can sing?"

Mike looked at her sadly. "Bloom, you have to go for therapy to learn how to walk again. I think that's all the punishment you'll ever need. If you really think you need to be punished, then let that be your punishment."

"I can't walk, big _whoop_. Josh can't _breathe_, or _talk_, or _open his eyes_. Josh is dead because he wanted to help me. What's being unable to _walk_ when he was punished for doing a good deed?" she screamed, slamming her arms down on a wheelchair.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, and Jordan smiled tightly. "Hi," he greeted.

Mike opened the door wide and Bloom wheeled over to him. "It's good to see you, Mr. Roberts," Mike greeted. "Bloom, can you say hello?"

She smiled sadly and shook Jordan's hand. "Hello, sir. It's good to see you." She wheeled back into the kitchen and the men followed. "So, why are you so far from home? It can't just be for my contract."

"Actually, I wanted to see Josh's father. Scott. And I wanted to see his studio. Not long after they heard about the accident, some producers came to me and asked to make a film of your story--Josh and yours. I wanted to ask Mr. Codatorta what he wanted."

They all sat down and started to pass the food around. "I'm afraid you can't find him," Vanessa said. "He works at a boarding school most of the year--Bloom, honey, what's the name of the school Uncle Scott works for?"

"Red Fountain," she replied, eating salad. "Red Fountain School for Specialists. Josh was going to go next year."

Silence followed and Jordan brought another subject up. "So, Bloom, are you doing well?" he asked.

"If you're asking if I can walk, no. I haven't improved at all in the last three months," she replied, sighing as she looked at her legs in the wheelchair.

Memories flashed quickly of time spent in a rehab center for her legs. None of them were pretty. She was screaming in pain, she was stretched uncomfortably, she was sweaty and crying and nothing she could do would get her to walk. There was a moment, Sky thought it was right before she left the center, where she could take one step, then crumbled down on the ground again, crying and screaming and agony, shouting profanities when people tried to help. She didn't get any closer it seemed.

"I'm sorry. I'm not much fun lately," Bloom replied, looking at a mirror on the wall with a picture of her and Josh tucked in the corner, laughing in the sand.

Bloom remembered it well. They were at the beach for a vacation in Hawaii, and an eight year old Josh was helping her build a sand castle. When Sky looked at the picture closely, it looked like Sparx before the planet was attacked.

"_Josh, make it bigger," five year old Bloom said in Bloom's head. A voice of the memory the picture brought up._

"_It's not much bigger," Josh laughed._

"_Yes it is! Bigger and sparkly! Sparx. How about I call it Sparx?" she asked, clapping._

"_Of course. It's your castle, princess. It can be whatever you want it to be," he said._

_He did something to her that made Bloom screech in delight and laugh. Thudding steps ensued and Bloom laughed. "Josh! Get back to making me Sparx! Josh!"_

"No, it's fine," he replied. "I'm guessing you don't want anyone to see you like this, huh?"

"Definitely not. No offense, but I don't even feel like singing anymore."

"I figured as much," Jordan replied. He laughed softly. "You remember Fatal Fatality really well. Do you remember what happened to us that made us stop singing?"

She nodded and took another bite. "Your brother was in a car crash with the drummer. The drummer was left paralyzed from the neck down. Instead of getting a new drummer, your brother refused to sing again, and instead went on to become an actor and married the drummer's sister and had a great family with a son named Greg. And you went solo for awhile."

Jordan smiled. "He made the best out of a bad situation. He takes care of Greg every day, and helps him in every way he can. Carrie was more than happy that Greg and Andrew could still get along."

"Why do you ask? About Greg and Andrew? What does it matter?" Bloom asked.

Vanessa smiled and pat her daughter's hand. "Bloom, we're just saying that maybe you would feel better if you did this for Josh instead of pretending that this isn't something you want."

The girl looked at her mother, tired and cynical. "This _isn't _something I want. Not anymore at least. I wanted to be a singer, but I only wanted it if Josh would be there with me to take it all in. If he and I got in a fight, I still would've given up singing. I love it, but it's not the world."

"Bloom?" Mike tried again.

He touched her arm and she shook it off, wheeling back the chair. "I don't know why I bother. Nobody will ever accept me now that I killed Josh. I had hard enough times trying to fit in with him around to help. This is pointless."

She started to wheel away and Vanessa stopped her. "Bloom, where are you going, darling?"

"Out. I need to think for awhile. Alone."

The next scene she was walking again, maybe a year later. She was smiling and talking to a boy they had never seen before. "Thanks, Richard, but I don't want to," she said. "I'm just going to walk. I haven't been able to for a long time."

He shrugged and got in his car. He rolled down the window just as he was about to drive away. "By the way, Bloom? I'm sorry. I know today's the day Josh died, and I wanted to say I'll miss the guy."

"You never met him," she replied with a smile before his words hit her. Her smile dissolved and in its place was a look of horror. "Today's the day?" she asked, shocked.

"Yeah, why?" he asked, confused.

Bloom streaked off in the opposite direction to the front of the school. There on the school's bulletin board were all the messages and events of the day. It was the day her second to last CD came out, the day her school was hosting the Junior Prom and Bloom gasped and feel to the floor, sobbing.

It was Josh's birthday. To make it worse than any other day of her life. "Great. No I love you, no goodbye, no happy birthday," she sobbed, hitting her head on the concrete wall behind her. "Stupid, stupid Bloom."

A hand came to her shoulder, and she just leaned into the accompanying body to sob. She didn't notice when she left the ground or that she was moving. Bloom noticed when a door opened and she was thrown onto a back seat of a car.

"What the--Richard?" she asked.

No one could watch. For the first time, they wished they didn't know her thoughts. Mike and Vanessa cringed and cried at the sight of their baby girl being raped. It was painful to them just to hear her screaming to be released and for the boy to stop. She cried and fought, but was still too weak from not walking long.

When he finished with her, he warned her not to tell anyone or he would kill her family before coming after her. Sky's fists tightened, and Bloom only agreed with tears in her eyes and shame in her voice. The look in the boy's eyes told her he wasn't kidding.

It was dark out, compared to the sunny afternoon it had been, and she collapsed on the ground and sobbed again once he drove away. A few minutes later, Bloom dried her eyes and made her way home, stiff and limping, gasping in pain. Along the way someone's car pulled up next to her.

"Bloom, sweetie, what happened?" Professor Codatorta asked, concerned.

"Uncle Scott," she sobbed.

In seconds he was out of the car and helping her, taking her to the hospital and getting a kit done. He called her parents and found the boy himself. From what Bloom heard after, the police arrested Richard not long after with a broken nose and several crushed ribs, and she hugged the professor as soon as he came back in the room.

"It's okay. No one's ever going to hurt you again, I promise," he told her as she sobbed.

Time went by and they watched Bloom leave school for the last day of her freshman year. She went to Josh's grave and left him some candy. The professor explained to the room it had been Josh's favorite and that the two would eat it nonstop.

Another year passed since Josh's death, and Bloom was lying in her bed, sick, convulsing and then passing out, eyes rolling up into her head and leaving the white exposed. Soon her sheets became bloody at her crotch. Vanessa came in and found her when she went to wake Bloom up for school and screamed.

When Bloom was in the hospital, the doctors told her parents she had taken blood-thinners a friend had given her while she had her period and she had also worn her tampon all night, giving her TSS. She told her parents the person gave them to her saying it would make her period go faster and she didn't care about the consequences because she didn't care about life anymore.

"She never was the same after Josh left," Mike murmured to himself, sighing as they watched the memories. "I always wondered what would've happened if he lived. None of this would have happened."

The next year, Bloom was being beaten by several kids that had been in past memories, all blaming her for killing Josh. In this memory too she was raped and Sky was ready to go to Earth and kill everyone that hurt her. How dare they touch her?

Riven was seething. He was positive that Bloom was his half-sister, and she was being destroyed on Earth. Most people had a bad memory, but Bloom was being ripped apart and destroyed, treated like vile and violated just because she was losing a battle in her mind. He was ready to kill everyone on Earth and turn back time to kill the drunk driver that killed Josh to stop anything from ever happening.

Hell, he'd turn back time to before the Coven attacked and rip all of them apart, bone by bone. It was all their faults Bloom was a wreck now. He could never speak to Darcy again, knowing she must have something to do with the Coven. He had a feeling she was a descendent of the Coven, like he knew Stormy and Icy were.

"Uncle Scott?" Bloom asked, two weeks after Josh's death. She looked like shit, still beat up and traumatized from the attack. "Will you teach me to fight? I need to know how. I need to be able to. I need to protect myself."

"Bloom, I already taught you how to defend yourself," he told her, waxing his car. "Why do you really want to learn?"

"You taught me how to _defend_ myself. I need to learn how to _fight_. How to keep people away from me, stop a lot of people coming at me at once. I need to learn how to stop this from happening again."

Suddenly Bloom broke down sobbing again and Professor Codatorta ran over to her as she screamed. "Fuck! I couldn't fucking save myself. I couldn't fucking hurt one person. I was fucking useless. I'm a fuck. Fucking fuck-faced fucker fucking fucked…fuck."

The professor waited for her to die down and hugged her close. "I have something to show you, Bloom. And I know, I've always known, you'd come to the point where defending yourself wasn't enough."

He led her into her house and got out a letter. "Dad," Bloom whispered, reading the front of the letter.

_Dear Dad,_

_I know you hate when I tell you to do stuff, but you have to listen to me. Bloom isn't just a defender. She's a __fighter__. You need to teach her to __fight__. You could send her to a fight and she'd win. But you need to __teach__ her._

_Bloom's not meant to sit back and block people. She's meant to strategize fast and do __physical damage __to her opponent. If Red Fountain wasn't for guys, I'd send her there. You can't just sit back and think she'll be happy just to stop people from hurting her. You've known as long as I have that she'll want more, need more._

_She's a princess and she deserves to be treated as one. She __needs__ to learn how to protect her kingdom and fight to expand her kingdom. Bloom __needs __to be a princess and know what it feels like to have all that power. To be able to fight and defend, just as a ruler does. Bloom __needs__ to learn._

_Dad, I'm not asking you anymore. Either you teach her or __I__ will. I will find her a teacher and practice with her, just like when I taught her to defend. Think of how many times she beat me before and all she knew was defensive moves? Please, Dad. Don't make me go behind your back._

_Josh._

Bloom choked and looked at the professor. "Uncle Scott--"

"He was right. It's time for you to learn," he replied.


	5. Chapter 5

The following memories were all of Bloom learning to fight. Sky watched and swelled with pride at the sight of Bloom going back later and hurting all the people that hurt her.

Suddenly it flashed back to the woods where Stella and Bloom first met. In the woods, Bloom was camped out by a lake, and at the moment she was washing blood off her hands, larger splatters still all over her shirt and jeans. Bloom was shaking her head and sobbing.

"How did this happen? It couldn't, it can't…no one can ever know," she kept repeating over and over. "I'm a fucking monster now," she sobbed. "I might as well die. There's no reason to live if I killed Josh. And now I killed Richard. It was an accident. An accident. No one's going to believe me."

She kept repeating "it was an accident" and "no one would believe me" for the better part of an hour when something made her stop and look at her backpack. She rushed over to it and reached in to grab out a shiny silver knife.

With one quick breath, she started to slice her wrists, ribbons of crimson beading and flowing freely. The cuts were deep, and by the way Bloom hissed, they were painful.

She sobbed and the edges of her mind started t get fuzzy, then suddenly they became sharp and focused. Bloom gasped and looked up, seeing an ethereal creature. Fairy-like and ghostly.

The mental Bloom gasped at the image, saying how she wasn't sure it was Daphne that saved her before, but there was no hiding with special spells and magic again.

"Bloom, you have to stop that. Your parents would kill me if they saw this," Daphne scolded her, grabbing her wrists. "They had me bring you to Earth so you'd be safe."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Bloom yelled, backing away. Suddenly she gasped and looked down at her wrists, mended and scarless. "Who are you? What did you do to me?" she screamed.

"I'm Daphne. I'm your protector. I've been protecting you since you were a baby, a child in…well, that doesn't really matter, does it? You won't remember any of the last few months after we're done. Nothing from the time you met Richard on," Daphne told her, laughing a little and ruffling her own hair. "How does that sound? I can fix the emotional and mental and physical scars you've received since then. Three years is hard, but I can do two years."

"What do you mean?" Bloom asked, a little scared and a little hopeful. "Like, I won't just forget? It'll have never happened?"

Daphne nodded. "The past two years had never happened. I can wipe every trace of them from you and change them with new memories. But I can't go back and erase what happened to Josh. Not only is it dangerous to erase three years, I could never explain what happened to him, I'd never be able to flesh him back in or cut him out completely."

The figure sighed. "Such a shame. I've known Josh as long as you. He was always such a good boy. Polite and respectful." She scowled. "Not like that witch sister of his. Darcy, the half-being. Sneaky and power-crazy--she's someone to watch out for."

Bloom nodded and Daphne started to disappear. Bloom's eyes shut for a moment and when she woke up, she was sleeping in her bed with Kiko wrapped in her arms. She yawned and looked around, looking confused. She shook her head and got ready.

The boys looked away as she showered and changed, then went downstairs and told her mom she was going to go out camping while she waited for the media to die out about how she wasn't renewing her contract. Then she went on to tell her mom about a weird dream she had about the last few years and Vanessa gaped at Bloom as she left.

Vanessa shook her head in the room next to Sky and Riven. "I never understood how it happened. I thought the nightmare was over. I just didn't know how. We even went to the gyno her last visit home and he said the scarring was gone and her hymen was fixed."

After that, Bloom met Stella and her friends in the room could all relate to the memories she was reviewing. There was one of her sneaking off at night that none of the girls knew.

"Did she ever say anything to you about it?" Stella asked, receiving a chorus of "no" and "not a word" from the girls. "Come on, Bloom. What were you doing all by yourself in the middle of the night?"

Bloom kept looking back and sneaking glances over her shoulder, making false trails and covering her tracks. Eventually she made her way to the lake and stepped into it.

"Okay…calling Daphne. Who's this girl I'm dreaming about?" Bloom said aloud, uncertain of how she was getting a reply. "What's with people saying I have more than just fire power? Hello? I'd like some answers."

"She's not here, pixie," Icy replied from behind a tree, Stormy and Darcy coming out of hiding behind two more. "She never was. Daphne, the spirit of the lake, is just a story. She isn't real. And you came all the way out here, alone and vulnerable, just to talk to her. How sad."

Bloom looked around, cornered by the three. Icy growled and ordered Darcy and Stormy to attack. Bloom closed her eyes and waited for everything to turn dark. Then she opened her eyes and saw nothing.

No witches, no lake, no moon. Just darkness.

But she could hear. The witches were yelling about what happened to make everything black. She could hear the splash as one of them stepped--fell--into the lake. The gust of wind Stormy let off, trying to climb out of the darkness, move it with winds.

"What if…" Bloom whispered to herself. She clicked her tongue and listened to the noise as it bounced back to her. Sure enough, she had made an echo of what was around her. She did it again and found the path she had come on.

Seconds after she sprinted towards the path, she clicked her tongue again and made a new echo of her environment. She was impressed with the fact she was using echolocation, but the fact she could use it and turn the world pitch-black scared her. They were two more new abilities she had.

She broke away and saw herself getting closer to the Alfea grounds, so she let her shield down, the darkness disappearing.

Bloom laughed airily and slipped back into the building without being noticed, then was cornered by a dark shadow in the hall. "Back off, witches," she warned, pushing with enough force to move the shadow to the wall on the other side of the hall and into the light.

Riven gasped as he hit back hard, thirty feet from where he started. The Riven in the room smiled forlornly at the memory of the night--how he was amazed at her strength at the moment, but not realizing it went with Trixxi's mind games.

"Riven! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she started to apologize, coming to help him. She was down on the ground next to him when she stopped. "Wait a minute. You're sneaking around Alfea in the middle of the night, _plus_ you're dating Darcy. I totally take all of that back You deserved it."

"What just happened? It feels like I got hit by a monster truck," Riven groaned in the image, still doubled over in pain. "I see dancing waves of ice, crashing down on music notes…Crap. Trixxi!" he yelled, getting up and stumbling a little on his way to the headmistress.

Bloom watched him with a funny face and mouthed "Trixxi" a few times before saying it out loud. "Why do I know that name? Where have I heard that name before?"

He looked at her funny. "She was one of the two princesses of Sparx at the time it was attacked and destroyed." He laughed softly and murmured, "One of the few survivors. Just not a princess anymore."

"Yeah, okay. So what are you doing here, sneaking around in the middle of the night?" Bloom asked, dropping the subject.

In her head, Bloom kept repeating the name, finding something important about Trixxi.

Riven got defensive. "Nothing. I was asked to come see Miss Faragonda. She wanted to ask if I'd watch Musa for her dad--he requested me. I told her no, it wasn't enough money for me to waste my time."

Bloom rolled her eyes. "That's bull."

"Prove it," he challenged.

Bloom got right up to his face, squinted and pointed at him, making him uncomfortable with the closeness. "Just be lucky I'm a sucky Winx. If I knew spells to make you tell the truth, half the school would know you were in love with Musa and you came here to check up on her. Stalker."

Riven rolled his eyes. "First of all, it's called _investigating_. Not stalking. Second of all, I'm _telling_ the truth. Third, I'm dating Darcy, not Musa and I _love_ Darcy." He stopped and made a face. Why am I even speaking to you? You tried to kill me."

She screamed a garggled growl. "For the gazillionth time! I didn't try to kill you, you stupid fuckweed. What do we always do? Fight. What had we just done? Fight. But who are you in love with? My best friend. So who has to go play nice and apologize?" She pointed a finger at herself. "Me." Then she added a second and brought up her thumb so it looked like a gun and motioned shooting herself.

He glared. "You call tampering with my equipment apologizing for pouring water on me?" he asked, mad.

"Wait. Weren't you the one swearing I _liked_ you?" she yelled back. "So, you deserved that. And then you got pissed at me and I apologized with--what I thought at the time--was one of the coolest gifts in the world. Was it my fault psycho-bitch and her friends wanted to screw you over."

"Huh? Who?" Riven asked, completely confused.

Riven outside the dream sighed in frustration and hung his head. "I knew she couldn't stop thinking about me. Can't believe she had to bring this up, though."

Bloom rolled her eyes. "Psycho-bitch. You know, Darcy?" She shook her head. "They had 'Timmy' come find me," she started air-quoting "Timmy" to prove a point, "during the festival. Said he knew about our fight and knew how to make things up to you."

Riven looked at her funny. "Timmy wasn't at the Day of the Roses. He went home to his mommy and daddy."

"How was I supposed to know?" Bloom whined, stomping in the corridor and pulling at her hair. "I didn't even know about the holiday until that morning. And then Stella told me and then I realized it was the Trix and then I tried to chase you down and warn you. And then you went 'Oh my damn! I can't see!' And now we're at today…Well, basically."

Riven rolled his eyes again. "Nice story, Bloom, but none of it makes sense."

"I give up. Just go back to Darcy and keep wishing she--it--was Musa. I'm done trying to be nice, I'm done trying to be friends, I'm done trying to get you to admit you're in love with Musa. I'm just freakin' done," she told him, shaking her head.

"Dumb chick," he muttered.

"At least I'm not all, 'I'm in love with Musa but I can't be because she doesn't like me and moping around all depressed I got rejected would ruin my bad boy image.' Don't think nobody's realized what's going on--or _was_ before Darcy brainwashed you."

Suddenly Bloom got silent and her mind kept wondering, _"Darcy? _That_ Darcy? I wonder if she's Josh's sister? Man, that'd suck!"_

Riven in the picture started snapping his fingers in his face. "Bloom? Bloom? Hey! Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Fine. Do you happen to know if Darcy has--or had--a half-brother? His name would be Josh? Just out of curiosity."

"We don't talk about family. She kind of knows better than to start with that route. And unless you get something important to say, I'm leaving."

"Yeah. For the last ten minutes, you haven't tried to deny you like Musa once. You even admitted to stalking her--well, okay _investigating _her," she told him, smiling. "I win."

He just slammed his head into a stone pillar repetitively a few times as she skipped down the hall like a child towards her dorm. "I really hope she gets locked up in the crazy house someday," he said, mostly to himself.

"I heard that!" she yelled back to him from down the hall.

* * *

Vanessa just cried as that memory too faded out and the memory of the fight came up in Bloom's mind next. From her original plan to what was going on underground, to what the witches did and the last conscious thoughts Bloom had.

"Sky, get away from that…thing!" she heard the blonde prima donna whine. "Trixxi's taking care of it all."

"Diaspro, let me go!" she heard Brandon yell. "It's Bloom. She's hurt!"

"Sky, you can't!"

"Squire! Explain this all to me!" she heard the king, Sky's father yell.

"Oh my god. Why is Sky doing Brandon's job?" Bloom heard Stella asked, shocked.

"Because he's really Brandon. And I'm really Prince Sky," Bloom heard her blonde guy-friend tell Stella.

"That's not possible," Stella tried again.

"It is and I'm engaged to Sky," the blonde told her in her nasally, snooty voice. "So I would know better than anyone."

_"Oh, great!"_ Bloom's mind thought._ "Just what we needed. Another guy with a hidden agenda to be friends with. Only I don't think he's gonna be as cool as Josh and come back with a it's a good surprise! Prick."_

And suddenly the screen went completely black. Everyone looked around, scared. Nothing happened for half an hour, but no one took their eyes off the screen in case they missed anything important.

Then they heard Bloom screaming, "No! No! I don't want to! They started this--you can't make me! No!" she screamed, her voice projecting from the empty monitor. "Help me! Someone save me! Josh! Please! _Josh_!"

"What's going on?" Sky asked, scared for Bloom. She was in pain and scared if her shrilly screams were any kind of indication.

"Gee, because we know that much more than you when we're all staring at the same exact empty screen and praying our friend is okay," Musa replied sarcastically.

"If anyone knows more than the rest of us, it'd be you and Sky--_oops_. I mean _Brandon_," Stella sneered, pacing. "None of this would've happened if you had told everyone the truth from the beginning. We'd all be able to go watch the exhibition and Bloom wouldn't have bugged us with her idea o go find out who she was. And she'd be fine, sitting with us in the stands cheering on a Red Fountain boy she could actually date--"

"Stella," Flora warned too late to stop the tirade.

"--someone _not_ engaged. Someone that actually likes her and doesn't have prior attachments. A nice, sweet, loving prince."

Tecna cleared her throat and shook her head. "That would be almost impossible, Stella. The Book of Royal Marriages refused it."

"It's been gone for years," Stella snapped. "Lost in the fall of Sparx. Nothing on it really counts unless it's found."

Bloom screamed on the screen, then sobbed uncontrollably. "Stop it! Daphne, stop! Don't do this anymore. It's bad enough I know they're dead. Don't make me see this all again. Why are you doing this?" Blom kept screaming.

There was a moment where everything was silent and then suddenly the screen burst into orange flames and died down to show Bloom running through the halls of Sparx. Riven realized it at once, while the girls started to recognize pieces of the building from their virtual simulation.

It was burning down. All the beauty and color was starting to fall apart and every once and awhile there would be an explosion. No one had to tell the group it was the end of Sparx, the day the coven came.

The day no one would ever forget.

There was a baby crying and Bloom was sprinting to it. People were screaming for help and a feminine voice Musa recognized instantly was screaming, "Bloom? Bloom? Where are you?"

"Mom," Musa breathed. Then she started to yell, "Bloom, go find my mom! She's looking for you, damn it! Find her! Don't let her die there!"

Bloom ran faster and came up to a young Josh, the same Josh from her early morning dream. She stopped short. "Josh? Josh. You have to get out of here. Now. You have to leave before you get hurt."

She sunk to her knees to grab Josh and make him focus, but her hands went right through him.

Suddenly Daphne appeared. "He can't feel you, Bloom. He doesn't know you're here. It's just a memory. You can't change anything."

"No. I have to," Bloom sobbed, running towards the baby's cries. "I'm not letting Musa live without a mother, I'm not letting my parents die looking for me. Sparx can't fall to the witches."

Daphne sighed and shrugged, gliding after Bloom in a leisurely way as she sprinted through the corridors to find herself.

"Miriam! Oirtel!" Musa's mother yelled, catching up with Bloom's parents. They hugged and looked at each other. "Where are the twins?"

"Daphne's looking for Bloom. I sent Trixxi home with Riven and Musa this morning," Miriam replied, starting to sob. "She was feeling sick. Where's Bloom? Where's my baby girl?"

Bloom halted. "Mom. Dad," she whispered, transfixed by the scene. Then she screamed, dropping to her knees. "Mom! Dad! Run! Auntie Miradela! Please! Leave me and run! Go save yourselves!" she screamed, pounding the floor. "Please!"

Musa looked at Riven the same time he glanced over at her. "You're Trixxi's brother?" she asked.

"And you're her godsister," he replied, forlornly.

Musa looked back at the screen. "Does this mean Bloom is…"

Riven covered her face. "I think so," he whispered, shielding himself for what came next.

One of the walls burst open and a witch that looked strangely like Darcy appeared, floating towards them with her arms crossed. "Well if it isn't the snobby princesses of Alfea, all grown up," she sneered, even sounding like Darcy. "Where's the Dragon's Flame?"

Miradela looked at Oritel. "Go. Find Bloom and keep her safe. We'll hold the coven off," she told him, shooing him. "Nothing Miriam and I haven't done before."

Miriam laughed and kissed her husband good-bye, unwittingly for the last time. "Keep her safe, Oritel."

He nodded. "With my life. She needs to rule one day."

Bloom sobbed and ran down the next corridor she could find with her hands over her ears to avoid hearing the end, hearing them die. She ran by what looked like a nursery. She sprinted in and looked around.

"Whoa," she whispered, looking around. "This was my room." She spotted the two cribs and smiled. One had a moon mobile and one had a sun mobile. "I had a twin? Is that who Trixxi is?" she asked, aloud, coming to the far wall.

"Bloom, this is what I needed you to see," Daphne told her. Behind this wall is all the secrets of the magical realms. And only two people can gain entrance now that Oritel is dead." she looked at Bloom. "You and your sister."

"I can't," Bloom told her, shaking her head. "I'm the reason everyone died. I can't go back and see all of that again." She looked up at Daphne, tears streaking down her face and a look of pure misery. "What if I see all of this again? Over and over? What if I get stuck thinking about all the people I killed? Just because I went missing."

Daphne rolled her eyes and glared a little. Suddenly there was another baby's cry and Bloom shot up from her spot and ran towards it, crossing hallways and corridors, running right through crashing rubble.

Finally she came to a room where Bloom was crying and Daphne was comforting her. She looked around wildly. "Dad? Dad? Daphne, why isn't my dad here?"

But the Daphne she had been interacting with had disappeared and Bloom turned to watch herself as a baby with Daphne.

"Come on, sweetheart," Daphne cooed, rocking her. "I'm going to take you to a place that'll make everything better." As she comforted the child, she swept her hand around and the castle froze. "One day, you're going to be old enough to understand everything that's going on here. And when you are, we'll bring the kingdom back to its original glory. But for now Sparx is a fallen kingdom, destroyed by the coven."

Suddenly, as everyone was transfixed on the screen, it went black again and Bloom shot up in bed, screaming. Miss Faragonda rushed over and calmed Bloom down as Tecna rushed to unplug the screen and Stella ran for the nurse.

"Miss Faragonda, we have to save them. I have to go save them," Bloom sobbed. "Auntie Miradela and Mom and Dad…Sparx can't be gone. They have to be there still." She gasped and pulled the sheet away. "The secret room. The one in my room. It's there, they're all in there."

Miss Faragonda shook her head and the nurse came in, frowning at Bloom for moving around so much. When she heard Bloom's plan to go to Sparx, she flat-out refused. "No, no, missy. You're going home and resting. It's been a stressful week."

"Perfect. While I'm there, I'll unlock the room," she replied, serious.

"No. Home on _Earth_, away from all the magic," the nurse reiterated, annoyed. "You need to relax and stay away from magical adventures."

"Your last one kind of got you stuck in this ugly place in the first place," Stella reminded her, looking around her. "Besides, don't you want time to think about the whole Brandon's-Sky-and-Sky's-engaged-to-Diaspro-the-snarky-whore thing?"

Bloom hit her head lightly. "I forgot about that." She turned to a hopeful Sky and shook her head. "I want you guys to leave. All of you."

Sky's face fell and Bloom closed her eyes to avoid seeing his hurt expression. Because he hurt her first. And how was she supposed to feel bad for him?

Suddenly Professor Codatorta returned from a trip to the bathroom. He stopped short when he saw Bloom was finally awake, then ran to her and hugged her tight, the hug reciprocated. "Bloom, I was so scared. It couldn't be you too," he whispered.

"Uncle Scott, I would never leave you," she whispered, hugging him closer. "I'm sorry he died. That I killed him. I can't believe you even want to speak to me after all that."

He laughed and ruffled her hair. "Why wouldn't I? You spent all your time saving his ass when he was a kid. He was always lucky like that." He sighed and looked forlorn. "It just happened his luck ran out. It had nothing to do with you."

Sky looked from Bloom to his professor and back before deciding to leave. It was for the best. He'd check up on her later and apologize. But Miss Faragonda stopped him and the other boys.

"I have something to say," she told them, getting everyone's attention as Mike and Vanessa went to hug their child. "Bloom will need to recover and she will need to stay on Earth. But we can all agree she'll be in danger. I ready spoke to the headmaster at Red Fountain and he agreed the boys and girls should accompany Bloom home to Earth and help keep an eye on her."

Bloom gaped. "But my house doesn't hold that many people," she started.

"The boys can stay in mine. It's too big now that there are never kids running around in it," the professor replied. "Mike, Vanessa, do you mind taking the girls if I have the boys? As long as they don't mess the house up."

"Not at all. As long as Bloom will be safe," Vanessa replied, kissing Bloom's head. "Besides, it'll be good to meet her friends. Which one's the really nice specialist you and Scott mentioned? Brandon?"

"Oh, he changed his identity," she replied, angry. "He's now the prince, Sky. Now he doesn't look so impressive fighting so naturally. He probably grew up fighting."

Mike scowled and scolded Bloom for insulting her friends. "Just because it doesn't look as natural and he doesn't seem so advanced, doesn't mean he's any less brave or smart."

Sky would have thanked Mike if Bloom hadn't been fast with her reply. "But he is less brave and less smart because he did it so he could be a normal guy for once and assumed no one would ever find out he and Brandon switched places."

Mike shrugged and Sky's hope sank. Even her dad was against him.

"So it's settled," Miss Faragonda went on. "Tomorrow morning, you'll all leave for Earth and stay in Gardenia. Just watch Bloom and don't let her out alone with anyone from Earth, ever let her far from your sight. Nothing can happen to her while she's there. It could be very, _very_ dangerous."

Bloom nodded and laid back in bed, going back to sleep as everyone talked around her.

"It's going to be hard," Vanessa said as soon as she recognized Bloom was asleep. Or thought she was asleep. "Going back to the house, to the people, to the memories. She gave up on that life. How's she going to react when she goes back to it? We can't keep her under lock, but…If she starts to hang around with Mauren, it'll all come crashing down on her. All the progress she made."

"Don't worry," Professor Codatorta told her. "I can't trust the boys at my house alone, so I'm taking a short leave too. I know all Mauren's tricks. I'll watch the girl, make sure Bloom doesn't fall for it."

Mike nodded and hugged his wife as she started to cry silently. "Bloom'll be okay. She's a strong girl. Strong and independent." He laughed softly. "I wouldn't be surprised if she started singing again. Not professionally, but singing and laying down tracks in Scott's studio. You know, for Josh." He looked at the professor. "She really loved Josh. I didn't understand why until now. How long did you know you were her uncle?"

He shrugged. "Since she entered high school. Josh showed me the signs. I'm so sorry I never told you."

* * *

"Yeah he's a looker but I really think it's guts that matter most," Nick was singing when suddenly Bloom walked in and screamed. "Bloom?" he asked, distracted before he screamed to and came to hug her. "You're home! Finally! What's up? How was Mildura? I can't believe your parents let you learn abroad."

Bloom laughed. "I can't either. It was amazing--I'm going back in two weeks, so don't get used to it. It's Spring Break right now…Well, winter break. They have opposite seasons in Australia," she lied, not knowing what she was talking about really.

"Well, whatever it is, it's awesome!" he replied, excited. "We have to get the band back together for one last concert. My dad opened a coffee shop with an open mike night. He said we'd be welcome to it." Nick laughed, smiled and hugged Bloom again. "I'm so glad you're back! Everyone fell apart after you left. Ren left for Mitzi and the sluts, Zo went goth and I turned gay."

"What?" she replied, shocked but not condemning. "I mean, I always figured because, let's face it, no straight guy knows how to pair Jimmy Choos with a short summer dress. Or how to match two totally opposite patterns like big and little florals. It's just…you're seriously out?"

He nodded then looked behind him. "And who might they all be?"

Bloom squealed and introduced Nick first to the girls. "And this is Nick. He's the only person, like, to date that hung out with me and Josh and doesn't blame me for killing him," she replied, having already heard that they saw her memories.

"Bloom, how can I blame you when it was the other guy's fault?" Nick replied, frowning. "The others just don't think that logically. Anyways, it'd be his fault for being out so late and not just buying a hotel or something."

She had never heard it like that before. "Man, I love gay guys. They're so much better and more understanding and eloquent and comforting than normal men."

"Is that a quip at us, Bloom?" Sky asked, hurt and offended.

"Of course not Brandon…I mean Sky," she replied, innocent enough. If only she didn't smirk and glare at him right after.

"Something tells me this vacation's going to be hell," Brandon whispered to Sky with Sky nodding his agreement.


	6. Chapter 6

"I am no solution, to the sound of dispollution in me," Nick sang, looking at Bloom with concern as she just rocked back and forth on a chair in the corner. He stopped the recording and sat down next to her. "Are you okay?"

"Shell-shocked," she replied, looking around. "I mean, this is it. Every day, day or night, me and Josh were in here writing songs and singing and goofing off. It just feels so weird, you know? I know I'm never going to see him again, but everywhere I go I feel like he's waiting just around the corner to hit me with water balloons or something."

Nick nodded and told the rest of the band--their original band--to take a break.

Stella swooned in the control room as the boys kind of glared. "If only he weren't totally gay," she whined. "And magical. He'd be perfect."

"How about this studio?" Musa started, gaping. "I mean, it's definitely older technology than I'm used to, but this place is dope. It's better than my dad's studio."

"How about the fact that Bloom's my half-sister," Riven snapped. "Would anyone like to talk about that? Give me therapy. I thought that girl had a crush on me."

Flora rolled her eyes and played with the flowering plant she found upstairs. "There was never any question, Riven. She kind of really despised you. I don't know how you thought she liked you." She made it flower and turned it back to an infant, over and over. "But there was definitely a connection between you two. I think, subconsciously, you both knew."

Suddenly Bloom tapped on the glass and Musa turned on the intercom.

"Do you know how to record?" Bloom asked.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" Musa retorted, smiling. "What's needin'?"

"Miss Congeniality agreed to lay down one song with us," Nick replied. "And then we're going to visit Josh's grave and leave it there."

Musa nodded and turned the intercom off. Bloom got to the mike and waited for the recording light to go on. Then she started to sing.

"Let's go back, back o the beginning," she sang, focused on a spot above the glass. "Back to when the earth, the sun, the stars all aligned."

Suddenly everything got upbeat n the drums and Bloom turned from her trance to see her friend--Ren--banging on the drums like a solo. "What are you doing?" Bloom asked, confused and agitated.

"Whatever the hell I want," she snapped back. "Do you really think Josh would want you singing for him? Like, at the grave? He'd want you singing something happy and he'd want us to sound like we always did."

The boy on the guitar nodded, rolling his eyes. "Perfect. We sound like a mess again."

Ren glared at him and Bloom laughed. "Just like the old times," she said quietly. "I've got an idea." She turned to Nick and smiled. "Remember the game we all used to play?"

He laughed. "When you'd start singing and we had to guess what song it was? From inside the control room?" She nodded and he smiled. "Come one guys. We're playing the guessing game."

Another girl, a girl Sky recognized as Zoey from Bloom's memories, shrugged and followed Nick. "Hey, with Josh gone, one of us could actually win. We'd get a ten-second head-start and the prick'd still win. It's actually good he's gone."

"I know. Who'd ever think there'd be a positive?" Ren agreed.

Nick stopped and glared at them. "I'm gay, don't forget that. Technically, I'm allowed to hit girls. I hear you guys blame Bloom one more time and I will kill you."

Ren looked unimpressed while Zoey immediately froze and shut up. The boy, who Nick introduced them to as Harris, smiled and kissed Nick on the lips. "You're the best. I love you and Bloom," he said, sitting down on Nick's lap as "the game they used to play" started.

It took Riven a few seconds to realize the two boys were gay and he started to wonder if maybe Josh had been too. But when he heard the boys start conversing about how the songs would most likely be some of Josh's favorites and Bloom started to sing, Riven knew Josh was straight.

It did, however, put a damper on Sky's attitude to know he could've easily been outdone by Josh had he not died. The fact Bloom and Josh were first-cousins went completely over his head and he was nothing but angry.

"Y'all know what this is," she rapped, making the silly hand motions like she was a real G. "We used to ditch school and head straight up to the mall. Just so we can be the first ones with them on. Return to school by lunchtime--"

Harris clapped his hands excited and turned on the intercom. "'Stepped on my J's.' One of the best songs in the world!"

Bloom smiled and nodded, jumping ahead to "I'll make you Jump, Jump, Jump, Jumpman" before thinking of a new song. "Here comes the-- Here comes the-- Here comes the-- Y'all don't really want it now-- Boom!"

She repeated it twice and then Nick slapped his head and turned on the intercom to announce the song as "Here Comes the Boom" before asking for a new artist.

"Forget it," she told the group, sighing. "The others aren't even playing. I don't think they've ever heard American music. And Australian music isn't all that good. Besides, you guys would never know Australian. So, we're at an impasse."

Musa sighed and forced Bloom to keep singing, lying and telling her she knew the last song that played. After a little interrogation, Bloom believed her.

"I reside it 2-oh-9, and you're in 2-oh-8," she started singing.

Riven jumped and, shocked, ran to the intercom. "I knew that one. 'Someone That You're With.' Nickelback. My sister loves the band."

She looked shocked, but nodded. "You have a sister?"

"Half-sister," he replied, curt. "And to think. She lived in Australia and she knew Nickelback. She may not be the best at singing, but she could belt out their lyrics, too. Any song you gave her."

Bloom shrugged and sneezed, then went on with a new song. "Wake up tired, Monday mornings suck. It's way too early to catch a bus--"

Ren buzzed in this time. "Come on. 'Billy S.,' really?"

Bloom smiled and went on singing, bashing her head around as she let go. "I don't need to read Billy Shakespeare, meet Juliet or Mavolio. Feel for once what it's like to rebel now. I wanna break out, let's go!"

Nick stopped her and told her to move on to a new song, which he immediately recognized because it was his favorite. "No 'Tubthumping'! Something even Zoey has a chance at knowing."

Bloom looked at him through the glass, amused. "Do you think she knows any of the same songs I do? If it's not on the Top Forty, it's not for her. And I haven't heard the Top Forty in, like, a year."

Zoey gave her a nasty look. "Thanks, but I'm in college now, just like you. Maybe my tastes have evolved past the Top Forty. Maybe I like Bon Jovi and Spatula now."

Bloom looked at her and thought for a moment. "Skillet?" she asked.

"Whatever. They're both kitchen utensils," Zoey replied, flippant and offended.

Sky laughed and thought how ridiculous everything was. Sure, Bloom was in college, but by the sounds of the conversation Musa, Riven and Professor Codatorta had, Bloom should still be a junior in high school.

Bloom looked at Zoey amused and shrugged, thinking of a song before she smiled and started. "I was raised from a broken seed," she sang like a ballad and suddenly she heard Sky come to the intercom and name it as a European song. "How do you, of all people, know 'Broken' by Sonata Artica?" she asked, confused. "I mean, I expected Harris to get it because he used to be a huge fan."

Harris shrugged and looked Sky up and down. "He's part of the team. It's okay."

Bloom laughed and the Winx choked on laughs of their own. Sky looked confused and Musa whispered to him what Harris meant while Stella bluntly corrected Harris.

"Prince Charming over here? He's straight. Stupid and a little psychotic, but straight," she told the room. "He's only been trying to get in Bloom's pants since he met her. Unless he's a damn good actor."

Flore laughed. "He's like a little puppy-dog, the way he follows Bloom around."

Brandon watched, suspicious, as Bloom's eyes widened in horror. Then he looked at the Earth-group she hung out with and saw Harris and Nick wearing similar expressions and Zoey looked at Ren, nervous. He tried to think of why that would be and tried to convince the girls to shut up about Sky and Bloom.

"So, do you like, _like_ anyone else, or are you just Bloom's puppy?" Ren asked, light and airy. "Because that'd probably suck for all the girls at school."

Sky shrugged, not knowing what was happening. "I go to an all-boy's school. It better not disappoint anyone."

Ren gasped excitedly. "You mean, you all go to Scott's school? That's why he's letting you stay here? That's so cool! Bloom, why didn't you tell me that earlier? Did you guys learn sword-fighting?"

Timmy shook his head profusely. "We don't do that. It's like rule number one." Then he looked at Nick and Harris and blushed, stuttering. "N-Not that th-there's anything wrong with it! W-We just don't have that--"

"They know how to use a sword, Ren," Bloom told her, defensive. "I didn't tell you they went to Uncle Scott's school because you never seemed interested in it before. Just when Josh was going to go. And I knew, with your sick fascination with swords, the first thing you'd ask about the school would be perverse." She glared at Ren for a moment. "And just so you know, there's nothing between me and Sky."

Ren beamed and suddenly Brandon got it. Ren was the girl that always stole boys from Bloom. Suddenly he had a face of pure horror and looked at Bloom, trying to look indifferent to Ren flirting with Sky.

Tecna yawned and made an excuse to leave. "Jetlag. Bloom, aren't you tired? Let's give it a rest for today and hit the hay."

Bloom shrugged. After all the sleeping she did, she felt like she could stay awake for days, but she loved any excuse to get away from Ren. "Let me just tell Uncle Scott we're leaving. He'll want to see everyone to the door."

Once Bloom left, Ren and Zoey pouted. "But I don't want to go yet," Zoey whined. "I was having fun--and I hadn't even won a round yet!"

Nick rolled his eyes. "Please. You _never_ win. 'Oh, I don't listen to the Top Forty now that I'm in college.' You listen to the Top Twenty. You've gotten worse."

"I believe the station is Pop Radio," Harris added, looking at Zoey disapprovingly. "You'd never guess Bloom's songs and she'd never be able to guess yours, Zo--especially since she's going to school around the world."

Ren huffed and looked at Sky with flirty eyes. "Well, I was having fun getting to know the boys. Do you think Scott would let us stay and talk with them a little longer?"

Brandon thought quick and started to yawn. "Sorry…Ren. We have the same internal clock as Tecna. I think we're all getting a little tired."

"Really? 'Cause I--you're right," Timmy replied, getting elbowed into agreeing with Brandon. "Maybe we should call it a day."

Sky looked at them, confused. "I'm not."

"Sky, do you wanna go out with me and Zo later then?" Ren asked, excited. "Come on. It'll be fun! We'll make it worth your--"

"No. He doesn't," Nick told her, glaring. "And, you know, I think I hear Scott coming now, so if you don't wanna have your pretty little head bashed in, I'd back off fro Bloom's boyfriend. It's like you don't know Scott hates you."

She huffed and Sky was still confused. What was going on?

* * *

It was midnight and the Winx all woke up when Bloom's cell phone rang. Everyone groaned, then rolled around to get comfortable again and went back to sleep. Stella huffed when she couldn't get comfortable again and just sat there, quietly looking out the window to try boring herself to sleep.

"Hello?" she answered, yawning. Then she bolted upright. "Ren! Hey, what's wrong? I'll be there in five. Did you already call Nick? We'll see you there."

Stella watched as Bloom got dressed--skinny jeans, a long tank, graphic t-shirt, a fishnet sleeve, studded bracelets and a fingerless glove--and got up as well. "What are you doing?"

"Ren says she has a bunch of guys harassing her at a club. They want her and her band to perform or…I hate the girl, but I can't let that happen to her. We'll be there for a set, then be right home. If I'm not back in the morning, tell them I'm with Ren."

The blonde Winx shook her head. "Miss Faragonda said we couldn't let you alone--even with people from Earth. Give me a minute and I'll get changed."

"Stella, I don't have time!" Bloom whispered, angry. "It's an emergency. I have to go right now."

"Just tell me where you'll be then," Stella told her, getting worried. "Just in case."

"It's this new place. Havana Ice. It's down the street from my mom's flower shop. You're coming out of the shop, you take a left, then a right on Main Street. Stella, I have to go. If you're worried, meet me up there."

She nodded and Bloom opened the window, crawling out and working her way down the drain pipe.

Stella rushed to get dressed and woke all the other girls up. All the commotion woke up the boys and Tecna spoke to Timmy through their enhanced walkie-talkies. She relayed to the boys everything Stella told her and she heard Brandon and Riven both cussing.

"What's wrong?" Stella asked as they all met up in front of the houses and sprinted to Havana Ice.

"I don't trust that bitch," Riven replied. "And if I'm supposed to assume Bloom's the princess of Sparx, then she's my sister. And if she's my sister, I don't want her getting hurt. Again. Ren seems like the type that'll hurt her."

"She said she already called Nick," Stella pointed out.

"No, Bloom never said she had," Musa replied. "And to tell you the truth, I'm with Riven. I mean, think about how she acted with Sky after we were talking about what a puppy he is with Bloom."

Suddenly Sky screamed "fuck!" as he realized what happened. "That was the girl that always stole Bloom's boyfriends in her memory!" he took out his phone and dialed the professor. "Stella, where now?"

They were standing out in front of the flower shop and Stella thought. "Left, then right!" she shouted, sprinting down to main street.

"Professor! Bloom's chasing one of her friends and we're chasing her," Sky yelled into the phone. "She got a call from Ren that she had to save her or Ren'd be--"

"The _cunt_!" Professor Codatorta roared. "She pulled this same trick before. Why does Bloom always believe Mauren?"

"Mauren?" Sky echoed, confused. "Isn't that a dude?"

"No, that's Ren. She despises the name because it sounds like a boy's name. That's why we all call her that. She's disrespects Bloom all the time, so we disrespect her. Sky, run and find her. I'm calling Nick and Harris."

Stella grabbed the phone when Sky told them about Nick and Harris, and the boys ran into the club. "Nick and Harris? Really? Two gay boys?"

"That were the lead linebackers for the Florida Gators and Ohio State?" he asked, annoyed. Then there was a slapping noise. "I forgot, you don't know football! This makes no sense to you!"

Stella's eyes widened and darted around. "Duh."

Someone grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth before she could scream. They picked her up and she flailed, kicking at anything. She hit the person between the legs--most likely a man by the shrill of pain--and started to run when she was cornered by more.

There were five boys, and when she looked around, none of her friends were there. She couldn't believe they left her behind. The boys started to circle in on her and she screamed for the person she felt would protect her the most, who she felt the safest with.

"Brandon!"

Suddenly he came hurtling out of the club and plowed his shoulder into the closest man, effectively tackling him to the ground. The others started to yell and converge on him when Bloom bolted out of the club and kicked one of them in the gut, making him double over and grab at her leg. She glared and jumped, swinging her other leg into his jaw.

"I'm so fucking done with this bullshit," she told Stella, annoyed. "Thank you, though, for showing up. It was a trick."

She looked at another boy advancing at her and took a bat out from behind her. Musa bolted out the door and stopped short, wide-eyed and amazed. "Where did you get that? You didn't have that inside!"

The man kept advancing and Bloom crouched down like she was about to hit a ball. "Dude, I was a fucking _slugger_. I don't think you wanna find out quite how good I was."

He backed up as another came from behind. She sighed and brought the bat down to scrape against the ground and land in the man's crotch. "I don't know why y'all wanna test this out. I had a homerun a game."

Stella looked at Bloom, shocked, then looked to find Brandon still fighting with the boy on the ground, throwing punches. Musa ran to Stella and hugged her as the man that initially grabbed her started rushing Bloom. There was a glint in the light of a nearby streetlight and Musa recognized it to be a knife. She screamed at Bloom, just as someone tackled the man to the ground and another kicked his hand and dislodged the knife.

"What took you two so long?" Bloom replied, shocked and panting--gasping really. "You live right up the street!"

Musa looked and realized they were Nick and Harris. Nick rushed to Bloom as Harris took out the last man and knocked out the one Brandon was still fighting. He helped Brandon up, then checked on Musa and Stella.

"Harris, she's going into shock!" Nick yelled. "What do I do?"

Harris looked at the girls. "Do either of you have chocolate?" he asked, serious.

"No. I didn't think to bring any," Stella replied, confused.

"Zip. Do you need me to go buy some?" Musa asked.

"At this time of night? There aren't any open stores. Besides, you almost got abducted. Why would I send two girls on their own?" He sprinted over to Nick and Bloom, hugging her as Brandon made his way to Musa and Stella. "We need to warm her up and call 911. Where are the others?"

"Inside," she chattered. "There are more. Ren had a whole bunch of guys. They all went to high school with us. They all blame me for Josh. They…they…what's wrong with me? They said they did it once but they'd have to teach me my lesson again. When did they rape me before?"

Nick glared. "Did anyone touch you?" he asked.

"No. I-I-I came prepared with a Louisville, just in case. For Ren. I knocked two out flat. Nick, I hit another one--really hard--in the head. I think I might've killed him. He stopped moving and there was blood and--"

She started to sob and Harris hugged her tighter as Nick grabbed the bat and made his way inside.

Suddenly Harris stopped him for a second. "Don't forget. Murder's jail-time and self-defense with a weapon is murder." Nick glared at him and dropped the bat. "There we go. Now go kick all their asses so they know not to fuck around with Bloom."

"Hey, you girls okay?" Brandon asked, rubbing an arm on both girls trying to warm them up. "Stella?"

She cried and nodded that she was, then asked how she knew to look for her. "I heard you scream. I'd hear you across the world--I'd run across the world to save you. As long as you need me, I'll be there for you. I may be a shithead that lies for his friend, but I'm a shithead that--"

"Brandon? Shut up. I love you," Stella replied, moving closer to him and kissing him.

There was a noise and the three jumped as Bloom dug herself closer to Harris. "It's okay, Bloom," Harris told her, shushing her. He looked around and spotted Brandon. "Can you watch Bloom while I go inside?"

He started to leave when Bloom clutched him back. "Take me with you. I can protect you," she told him, panicked. "I can't have the Ohio State football team pissed at me because I let you die. I thought it was bad enough when I had Gardenia--"

"Hey, I'll be fine. You never know what that noise was," Harris tried. "Someone else might've had a wooden bat. And Nick probably brought it 'cause baseball's for the stereo-homos."

Bloom laughed and nodded, letting Harris go and walking to Stella, Musa and Brandon. "Hey," she whispered, sitting down and hugging them. "How is everyone?"

"Better," Musa replied, quick and quiet. "Shocked."

Bloom nodded and hugged her. Soon there was a commotion as sky led Tecna and Flora out of the club. "This isn't the place for you girls. You can't use your Winx to fight them," he scolded, then saw Bloom. "Bloom! Are you okay?"

She shrugged and looked at the door laying half-open. "I want to be fighting. Harris won't let me--he thinks I'm going into shock or PTS. It's so far from the truth. I need to go in there." She looked at Sky hopeful. "Can you stay here?"

He looked at her, shocked. "You want to go back in there? Those guys have weapons! Like, real weapons. The kinds they don't teach us to fight with at school!"

"But, see, it's the type of weapons I learned to use and disarm," she protested. "Guns, knives, _swords_! Uncle Scott taught me--I live on Earth. I deal with these kinds of weapons all the time." She paused and swayed, then shrugged. "Well, fake weapons in self-defense class. And watching people disarm them in movies. But come on! I can protect myself, and I can fight. Let me go back in!"

Sky shrugged and turned so he faced the other girls and Bloom was slightly behind his back and he started talking really loud. "I can't see Bloom right now and I don't know if she's doing anything irresponsible like going back into the club. Maybe when I turn back around in ten seconds she'll have run off and I'll have to chase after her into the club."

She smiled and sprinted.

Inside, everything was different. Half the guys were on the ground and Bloom noticed Timmy fighting in the corner, getting beat on by three guys. She ran over to him and uppercut the man holding Timmy down, then slammed her fist into the one punching him.

Timmy fell to the floor and gasped as Bloom held some guys off. After a moment, Timmy looked at her and said "thank you" before following her orders to go outside with Tecna.

Bloom looked around and found Nick and Harris dealing with the ten or so men left and Bloom looked around for Ren. She found Riven and he nodded to say he was okay and she had to leave, but Bloom rolled her eyes and gave him the finger. She ran to Riven to fight with him over whether he should force her to leave or not.

"I'm fine. I'm gonna find Ren and teach her a lesson. You help the strapping and gay young men over there," Bloom told him. "Musa would be impressed--she'd think you were a big strong hero?"

"Dude, my sister would kill me if I didn't get you out of here!" he protested. "Besides, the rules are _someone_ has to be with you at all times. And this already happened when we let you out alone for five minutes."

She glared at him and pointed a finger. "That was an accident, and this time I'm ready for her."

"How about we go see her together?" Riven replied as two guys rushed him.

He turned to punch one and turned again to kick the other, only to notice Bloom had sprinted away.

When Riven looked around, he saw Sky running across the club and give him a thumb's up to say he saw Bloom and he'd be covering her. Riven sighed and kicked back the two Harris and Nick hadn't stopped yet, then the three men ran outside to check on the girls.

They looked around and Harris cussed. "Where did Bloom go?"

"Back in to fight, didn't she?" Brandon asked, confused. "She begged me and Sky, and eventually we had our backs turned and she went. Sky went in after her. You guys didn't see her?"

Riven shook his head. "I saw her. She helped Timmy"--he looked at the boy and he nodded as he rubbed his ribs--"and then she got in a fight with me over dragging her scrawny little ass back out here." He rubbed the back of his head. "I think she kind of won in the end. I know Sky had her when she went off looking for Ren."

Harris and Nick looked at each other then cussed, sprinting to the back of the building. The Winx looked around as the boys looked at each other, then they all started to sprint after them.

Riven, the fastest of the boys, caught up to Nick. "What's wrong?"

"Bloom doesn't know this, but Ren's dad built the club. She talks all the time about it. And I've heard her toys before--she brings them here and apparently takes them to a secret hall." They stopped at the back entrance and Harris motioned to spread out. "All we know is there's no way back out the front of the tunnel--there's a secret door in the back. And if she's after Ren…"

Riven went wide-eyed and started slamming his shoulder into the wall. Nick looked at Riven and realized what he was doing, then yelled around to the other men. "See if you can find the false wall! Harris, just like practice!"

He nodded and started hitting it with his body, and the boys followed suit. Stella and Musa ran to a corner as Tecna and Flore ran to the other. Flora got there first, and noticed when a door opened on the side of the building. Out popped two boys carrying a girl with red hair.

Bloom.

"Hey! Hey, over here! It's Bloom!" Flora yelled as she and Tecna raced down the alley, followed soon by Riven and Brandon.

Timmy looked around, confused. "Where's Sky?" The boys shrugged and he yelled for Stella and Musa to come and help with the wall. "Just push, every brick. See if one feels loose or the wall starts to move."

Everyone kept crashing into the walls, looking for another door that would reveal Ren and Sky. They never noticed the witches that ghosted over them, cloaking the piece of wall they hadn't checked yet and sneaking inside the club.

As they caught up to the men, who looked back and dropped the redhead, sprinting away. They watched as the wig fell off and Sky rolled towards them, unconscious.

Brandon turned him so he was facing on his back and he jumped up. "Where's Bloom?"

"We were hoping you'd know," Tecna whispered.

"I had her--she was right there. Two guys jumped me and Ren tied her up. Said something about her friend Darcy. The guys knocked me around and…what happened?"

"We just let my sister get kidnapped," Riven said, devastated. "By my girlfriend."

* * *

"Hello, Bloom," Icy sneered. "Ren, thank you so much."

"Yeah, thanks, Ren. You're a really good friend," Darcy said and Ren smiled. Then Darcy used a mind trick on Ren and she passed out. "Too bad you're too dumb to realize when we're using you. Just like when you use your friends."

"Good. Now that you guys are here, I can get the hell out of here," Bloom replied, freeing her hands and activating her Winx.

"Not quite, pixie!" Icy yelled as they took flight and went after her as she flew out the back exit and towards her house.


	7. Chapter 7

"They took the Dragon Fire," Bloom told everyone when they finally came back home.

After they tried every brick, they found the door and ran in to spot Ren passed out on the floor. Nick grabbed her and slammed her against the wall to wake her up. Once she was conscious, they harassed her about Bloom, and Ren told them how her friend Darcy had come to her earlier asking for Bloom, to get Bloom isolated and weak. Once the magic people found out the names--Darcy, Icy and Stormy--they sprinted back to the house, finding Bloom passed out on the couch and her adoptive parents tending to her.

Vanessa cried and told them it wasn't their fault, that they had all been fooled, but it didn't make anyone feel better that they had failed. Especially Sky. He felt humiliated that he couldn't protect her. If he couldn't save the one girl he loved, how was he supposed to be trusted with a whole kingdom?

And then Bloom woke up, crying about her magic being gone.

"Bloom, we'll get it back," Flore soothed, rubbing her arm.

She shook her head. "No, we need it now. Apparently they can call some evil army now with my power. The army of decay, I think. If only I hadn't fallen for it. I always fall for Ren's stupid schemes. I should just kill myself and let her have my life."

The girls gasped and tried batting down the idea while Sky glared and tightened his fists. He looked up and saw Riven looking at him, and suddenly he knew what he should do. He made a motion for Riven to meet him on the front porch, then slipped away without notice.

"What do you want?" Riven asked.

"I'm the reason Bloom got caught--if I hadn't let her back into the club to fight," he started, flustered. Then he sighed. "She won't want to see me when she remembers it's my fault and she hates me. And it was your girlfriend that set all this up."

"Your point?" Riven asked, getting mad.

"She'll hate us forever. I like your sister, dude, and you want her to like you. We need to go back to Magix and get her powers back. And hopefully, it'll make her forgive me and accept that you're not the bad guy--that you're her brother."

Riven thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, smirking. "Fine. I was ready to end my relationship anyways. Let's hurry up, so when they come back to school we'll be able to surprise everyone."

Sky smiled and went to high-five Riven when Riven stopped him, telling Sky he wasn't gay and no straight man would ever high-five. When he saw Sky's crestfallen expression, he sighed and put a fist out, letting Sky have his moment.

* * *

"So, what do we do now?" Brandon asked, looking around. "Timmy? Where are the rest of the guys? Riven? Sky? I mean, really? Now, you both decide to duke it out to the death when Bloom needs us?"

Bloom laughed a little and Stella sighed as she leaned into Brandon's arm. "I think we should go back to school and tell Miss Faragonda what happened," Stella suggested, kissing Brandon on his neck. "Let this all sink in so we can figure out what to do next."

"You mean, what we as a group should do, or you as a couple should do?" Musa asked, wryly.

Stella started throwing pillows at Musa and the girl shrieked and laughed as she ignored them, getting a call from the magical world that she had to answer.

"I agree with Stella," Flore said after a moment of silence. "The teachers would be the most knowledgeable about a situation like this."

"Do you really think so?" Tecna asked, scrunching her nose. "They didn't know about Bloom's power at first, and they didn't seem to recognize that the Dragon Fire came with more powers. Maybe they aren't as well trained as we think they are." From her Winx form, Tecna brought up a codex of old documents from the magical universe and pulled out the files marked for Sparx.

"What are you doing?" Flora asked, Timmy kicking in.

"The legend of two princesses," he replied. "The one that says the Dragon left more than one power behind, and isn't actually dead. Just resting under Sparx."

"Great place to sleep," Bloom muttered sarcastically. "Not like he's missing anything, what with the permanent winter the Coven put on my kingdom because they wanted his fire. Fucking dick of a dragon. Didn't he know it was a bad idea to give a baby super-powers? That should be a crime, or something."

Tecna sighed, showing her the digitized version of the document. "Your father was sort of in charge of all records, documents, treaties--anything and everything having to do with the magical universe and the kingdoms and rulers, your dad controlled it. The most important and secret stuff would go into a vault where only the royalty of Sparx could access it. That's where the real document is, in the vault."

The one Daphne showed me in my dreams," Bloom whispered, her eyes transfixed on the document.

Tecna nodded. "That's exactly the room. Anyways, the legend is that the Dargon would rest under Sparx until the new rulers were born, and present them with his powers over the years. As the two grew stronger, he'd grow weaker. When one sister finally overtook the other--most commonly believed, the older would live--then the Dragon would finally die, letting his soul and the other sister's soul into the princess, the new leader and ruler."

"Only problem," Bloom started. "I don't have a sister. There is no second princess--hell, we don't even know if I am the princess of--" She looked at the girls annoyed expressions and sighed. "So maybe we know, but my powers didn't come slowly. I think your legend's a little off."

"Very possibly," Tecna replied, shutting the codex. "It was written over four centuries ago and there had to be two princesses in Sparx since then, but I don't think that's the case."

Stella gasped. "You're talking about the adopted sister…Diaspro's new sister. You think she's the other half of all the magic?"

"It's very possible," Tecna replied when Musa came back from her call.

"Hey, that was my godsister. I guess Miss Faragonda contacted her because Sky and Riven went back to the magic world without telling anyone, and since she's next of kin or something for Riven she had to know…" Musa shrugged as the idea trailed off. "Anyways, Miss F wants us back home too so she can talk to Bloom about tonight."

Bloom sighed. "So she needs to know how unsalvageable this whole situation is because I'm fucking retarded."

"I don't think that's quite it, but let's run with it anyways," Musa replied, shaking her head and looking at Brandon and Stella. "Can you two get a room? I mean, we all get it--whoo hoo, he saved your life! Doesn't mean we have to see your gratitude."

Stella blushed and slinked off Brandon's lap and back onto the couch, making Bloom roll her eyes and Timmy shift uncomfortably on the chaise in the corner.

They all silently got up and packed, Timmy getting Riven and Sky's stuff as well, as they waited for Stella to transport them home. But something hit Bloom, just as Stella cut the portal back to Magix. She waited until the portal was sealed again, then asked, "Does this mean Stella's ring is safe now?"

Miss Faragonda met them out in the fields and ushered them in, guarding them from unknown dangers that she must have sensed. Bloom asked the question again to Miss Faragonda, who told her to wait until they were in her office, and then repeated it to Saladin and Griffin.

"It means they don't actually need the ring, though they can be even more powerful if they get it," Ms. Griffin explained, crossing to the window. "If the girls really do have the Dragon Fire, then I should go back to Cloud Tower and stop them. It'd be the first place they'd all go."

Miss Faragonda nodded and Bloom watched as Ms. Griffin disappeared into thin air.

Saladin next sighed and looked at Bloom. "I'm assuming that Riven's off stopping his girlfriend, but do you have any idea why Sky would tag along with him?"

She shrugged. "Probably got scared and ran home. That's what I would do if my house wasn't covered in snow." She sighed and looked out the window. "You know, I thought I knew. Thought I knew who I was, what I wanted in life, who I liked…but I guess I know now that I know nothing, huh?"

Saladin shook his head. "Sky didn't want to trick you--he didn't want too trick anybody. I asked him to trade places with his squire, learn how to be normal for awhile. You're lucky you met him now. Last year, he was so high-strung and obnoxious. This year he finally understands what it's like to be a commoner."

Miss Faragonda looked out the window too and pursed her lips. "Bloom, if I'm not mistaken…There may be a last-ditch way for you to get back your Dragon Fire."

She shot up in her chair. "Please, Miss F. I'd do anything not to feel this helpless. What is it? Invade Cloud Tower and kick ass?"

"No. Saladin, would you mind fetching the girls?" He nodded and left, as Miss Faragonda turned to Bloom. "The last chance we have is for you to go to Sparx. Inside the secret room would be the information on how to destroy the Trix's army, and how to regain your powers. I'll send you and the girls, and try to hold off the Trix."

"Intergalactic space travel?" Bloom asked. "There are no portals to Sparx, are there?"

"Through the simulation room. The Trix were able to bring you to Sparx the last time through the room. We can do it again if we tweak the machine a little."

Bloom nodded and waited for Saladin to come back with her friends. Once they were all packed into the office, Miss Faragonda went over the plan again and escorted them in as Tecna helped the professor alter the system.

"All right. Now remember, this will actually transfer you to Sparx, not just simulate the terrain," the professor told them, getting ready to launch them through the solar system. "Any injuries you get there are real and will hurt."

They nodded when they suddenly felt the tugging of the wormhole. Bloom had read about it before, seen the sci-fi renditions a hundred times. She just breathed deeply and closed her eyes, shocked when she felt herself crash into the snow after three or four seconds.

"Bloom, hey," Stella greeted, in her Winx. "You passed out back there, when we landed. You feelin' okay now?"

"Huh?" she asked, confused.

Tecna sighed, also in her Winx. "Earth-people don't know how wormholes work, it'd only make sense you wouldn't understand, either. Did you take a deep breath?" She watched Bloom nod. "You breathed in…nothing. Your lungs needed oxygen, so your body immediately stalled out. Next time, try holding your breath."

Bloom groaned. "Great. What else did I screw up while I was out?"

Musa stepped in, deactivating her Winx. "Bloom, you missed it! There was this huge snow monster and we trashed it. Except now we have ice-crabs following us, so we better go, go, go!"

Bloom got up and started sprinted, just as Musa reactivated her Winx and flew away. Bloom looked ahead, seeing Flora already at the castle and making a barrier with her plants. She quickly scaled the wall and ran inside, followed by Musa and Stella.

"Where's my bedroom do you think?" Bloom asked.

"Down this hall," Musa replied, taking a sharp turn and shrugging when Bloom asked how she knew. "My mom was Oritel's sister or something. I spent all my summers here and everything. I was…three or four when this place was attacked."

"So, you know who my sister is?" Bloom asked, stopping at her room. It had a sign on the door, Bloom and Trixxi's Room. Bloom's Door. "You know Trixxi?"

"Yeah. She's my godsister. And Riven's half-sister."

"Half-sister?" Bloom gasped. "Me and that _idiot_ are _related_? Which one of my parents was dumb enough to have him?"

Stella laughed. "Your mom. It was always known that there was no prince to take over Sparx, so it had to have been your mom." Then she turned to Musa as Bloom tried to figure out the wall. "Isn't she Diaspro's adopted sister now?"

She nodded. "Riven's dad is Diaspro's uncle on her mom's side, I guess. He asked them to raise Trixxi as a princess, because he couldn't see her as anything less." Musa smiled softly. "For a long time, no one knew if she was Oritel's or Revin's daughter."

Bloom stopped for a minute. "Revin and Riven? Really?" Musa shrugged and Bloom focused on the wall again. "I don't know how to open it. There aren't any keyholes to pry open or anything. Maybe we have the wrong room."

Musa sighed and started to fly out to another room, noticing a book. "What's that?" she asked, picking it up and watching elegant script appear. "Guys. Look at this. I think I found the book!"

Bloom and Stella huddled over it to read the script. _To the princesses of Planet Melody and Solaria, enjoy the Book of Royal Marriages. At present, you may not see your matches._

Bloom laughed as Stella gaped and Musa called it bogus. "Hey, maybe once you come of age, then," she teased. "At least it recognized you two."

Suddenly there was a noise and the book flipped open, and Bloom started to read the pages it filled out at lightning speed.

_Welcome, Princess Bloom after your long journey afar. This book is the record-holder of the any secrets of treaties, negotiations, and power-moves of every principality in the universe. It contains the arranged marriages of all princes and princesses in the universe until the day you left on your journey. Any questions you may have, only need be spoken above the book to be answered. The first order of your business would be--_

Bloom stopped reading, unable to keep up with the words. "Guys, I think we found what we came here for."

Suddenly Flora and Tecna flew in, warning them that the ice-crabs had broken through and they now had to run and hide. Bloom looked around and picked up a few mismatched objects to remember her sister by as she sprinted out and into the foyer.

"Holy shit, we're trapped," Musa announced, running into several walls of ice.

Bloom rolled her eyes and looked around for something to defend herself with. When she couldn't find anything, she looked at the trinkets in her hands. Then she noticed one of them was a thin metal bar, like the ones the boys used that turned into swords.

The crabs grew closer and Bloom tucked all the trinkets away into her jacket, then turned the sword on, instantly blasting half the crabs away because she didn't set it right. Once she was able to control it and set the power to that of a sword, more had descended on the group and it was an all-out brawl.

But before Bloom could hit more than twenty, the boys burst in, slaying the rest of them. Bloom gaped as she watched Sky take down the majority of them, huffing that he wrecked her mood. She liked certain numbers, like eighteen and twenty-one, to end anything and everything with. When she ended with twenty, she wasn't happy.

"Bloom, are you okay?" Sky asked once all the crabs were defeated for the moment.

Then she spotted one last one by her ankle, a baby crab that probably didn't know left from right yet. She smiled gleefully as she killed twenty-one, which made her feel better. "Fine, thank you. Thanks for rescuing us," she told him as he looked at her funny. "What? I have a number-related OCD. Everything has to be important ages."

He rolled his eyes as Timmy yelled that there were more coming again and they had to go to higher ground, or abandon the mission. Sky looked at Bloom, waiting to know if they had to stay.

"Let's get the fuck outta here," she replied, running towards the boys' ship.

On the plane, Brandon and Stella sat together, whispering quietly and every so often giggling; Flora and Musa sat and played cards, bored out of their minds. Timmy and tecna flew the ship and Sky sat next to Blom, apologizing for the first five minutes, then talking to her about the book and her new life now that she knew she was a princess.

"It feels like a huge-ass responsibility," she told him, holding out the book. "And what's worse, I think the book hates me."

Sky laughed, thinking it was a joke. "Why? What's wrong?"

"It started to write something down for me, but I'm an idiot and I couldn't read as fast as it wrote, and now the pages are gone and it won't rewrite them, even when I ask it to. Just like it wrote. As over the book and it'll answer."

"Are you asking or demanding?" Brandon asked, interrupting them and halting his conversation with Stella. "That's how my father's magic book works--why I'm Sky's squire and not some no-name loser. My family's in charge of holding all of Eraklyon's secrets and everything. Ever since Sparx fell. It helps if you ask."

She looked at him funny, then shrugged and gave it a try. "Will you please show me what you showed me earlier?" she asked. Suddenly the pages flipped open and Bloom smiled at Brandon as she told him, "I flippin' love ya right now!"

He shrugged and looked back at Stella, then to Bloom. "Can you ask for the marriage directory?" he asked. "Humor me. I just want to know if it works."

"Can I please look at the marriage directory?" she asked.

Suddenly everything disappeared and a single sentence appeared. _You may, Princess, but your friends may not._

Brandon sighed as Bloom read it off and Sky looked at him, confused. "It's just like the book for Eraklyon. You have to ask, then demand. So, now that you have your answer, you have to say something like, 'as the keeper of this book I command you to show my friends.' Right?"

Bloom looked at him funny and was about to listen to him when the message disappeared, and a new one appeared. _Never listen to him. Prince Sky knows nothing._

He glared at the book and Bloom laughed. "Can you please show me and my friends the list of royal marriages in the universe, including theirs?" The book's pages flew open, words scribbling furiously across page after page. Bloom laughed, the started to sift through the pages. "Can I see them alphabetized by the girls' name?"

The pages flew out and Flora came over to take a look first. She was the first last name on the list, and she looked puzzled when she read it off. "Prince Helia of the…isn't that Saladin's nephew or something? I think his sister married the king of Sunulit."

Stella shrugged and read aloud that Tecna was arranged to marry Timmy. "No big surprise there," she muttered, looking for her own and not finding it. "Hey! What gives?"

Musa snickered and took the book. "Let's see about me, then."

"No, I think we should find out what happened to Stella's marriage," Bloom said, taking the book back and purposely ignoring Brandon's hurt expression. "Come on, Brandon. You know she's a princess, and that she must have one."

"Not necessarily," Tecna told her. "Ask the book for a list of un-promised princesses. Stella was born in a funny age where it was mostly princesses. They had this old rule back then that a princess could not be arranged to a prince younger than her.

Bloom did as Tecna instructed and sure enough a list of names appeared. "Let's…yep. Stella's name is right here…" She trailed off, gasping at the name underneath it. "Right above Diaspro's. How does that work?"

Sky gaped. Suddenly he grabbed the book and looked at it, dumbfounded. "I always knew Diaspro was older than me, but really? I wasn't aware of the rule. My parents said I had been engaged since I was three."

"Maybe they got you engaged after the fall of Sparx," Bloom replied, a little angry.

"No. My grandfather used to tell me we needed a new arranged marriage. That I lost my fiancée when Sparx fell and they needed a--that would make sense, now that I think about it. The whole, needing a new fiancée-thing and Diaspro being older."

"Well then, do you think we can see a record of who you were supposed to marry?" Musa asked, starting to sleep in the corner now that she lost interest in the toy.

"Can I see who Prince Sky of Eraklyon is engaged to?" she asked, nervous.

The book wrote a reply. _You may not, though Prince Sky of Eraklyon may look. He will not be allowed to say her name until she comes of age._

Bloom read it to him and laughed. "What do you think 'of age' even is? Eighteen?"

Sky shrugged and took the book away, following its directions to pass to private area. After a minute, the ship heard him yell "I knew it! She didn't die at Sparx!" and come back with a huge smile. "I'm not marrying Diaspro. Beat that!"

Everyone rolled their eyes and Bloom smiled. "So how is the book going to keep you from saying the girl's name?" she asked, amused.

He frowned. "Some kind of spell. It said, I can talk to her but not about marriage and engagement and all that. It says she'll have no idea until she's old enough and gets the throne. But I'm working on getting around it."

Stella snorted. "Why don't we just get this all over with. Bloom and Sky have to be engaged, because what other princess was assumed to be dead when Sparx fell?"

"My sister," Bloom replied, deadpan. "If I knew more about the realms, I could probably give you more names. I do know that a lot of people died that day. And it'll take a long time to rebuild my kingdom."

He rest of the ride was silent, except for Bloom making whispered questions to the book about silly things and herself. She learned how the magic worked and more about her short life as a princess.

After they landed on the campus, Bloom was ushered away. She discreetly handed the book off to Sky as she was led to Miss Faragonda's office, where Saladin was waiting and Griffin was on a crystal globe communicator.

"Red Fountain has already fought these monsters. We did not do well," Saladin told Bloom. "Though I was shocked at some of my Specialists. They showed great character today. Like Sky, who had the chance to escape with Diaspro and chose to keep fighting; my nephew Helia choosing to fight instead of strategize; Hotch, one of my seniors, defending the boy he always harasses."

Bloom smiled as Saladin went on, shocked to know Sky refused to leave. He and the boys even begged to take the ship out to Sparx and help them instead of fly to Alfea and wait for the next attack.

"Bloom, did you get the Dragon Flame back?" Miss Faragonda asked.

"No. We couldn't get into the room in should be kept in--the secret room. We think we might need my twin to do it."

Miss Faragonda nodded and told her the bad news. "We need the Dragon Fire so you can fight the Trix on even ground. I need you and your friends to make a trip to Cloud Tower and steal it back. Ms. Griffin will assist as she can. Right now the witches and Riven are all locked in the dungeons."

Bloom started to agree, then stopped. "Riven? Riven's locked in a dungeon? I thought he went back to Red Fountain with Sky."

Saladin shook his head. "No…Well, yes. They came to me asking what would be the best strategy to get the Dragon Flame back, and Riven thought he would be able to get it back if he pretended he was seeing Darcy and wanted some of the power. Sky was to stay at Red Fountain until you arrived, then protect you as you snuck in through the secret tunnels under the schools."

Bloom sighed and shook her head. "Did you guys know me and Riven are half-siblings? My half-brother's an idiot."

Saladin laughed while Miss Faragonda pursed her lips. He scolded her, told her to lighten up, if they were about to fight for their lives, they better enjoy their last minutes.

"Maybe I should go get ready," Bloom said, excusing herself to change into cooler clothes and leave them be. "After all, I'm dressed for the arctic and those tunnels are as hot as the desert."

"Yes, that's fine," Miss Faragonda replied. "We have much to discuss without you."

When she arrived back in her dorm, she found everyone waiting around anxiously--except Stella and Brandon, who were perhaps making everyone anxious because they were busy sucking face. She threw a pillow at them and told them, "Either get a room, or hurry up and get ready. We're infiltrating Cloud Tower."

They stopped immediately and the girls rushed to their rooms to change. Once they came out, Bloom told them as much as she knew.

"I'm supposed to go through the tunnels with Sky, I guess," she started, looking at Sky for confirmation. "And I guess you guys run a distraction? I don't know. Miss F was uptight and when I left her and Saladin were fighting." She gulped dramatically. "I think we have to go back and strategize."

When they arrived, Bloom knocked on the door and started to let herself in, only to get scared and slam the door shut again. When her friends asked what was wrong, her eyes bugged out and she shook her head.

"Nothing. Everything's fine."

"What did you see?" Stella asked, opening the door for herself and revealing Saladin and Miss Faragonda fixing their clothes and letting the in. "Gross, Miss F! Bloom's, like, sixteen here! You just corrupted a minor!" Stella complained.

Bloom rolled her eyes and listened to the plan. She and Sky went through the tunnels with Stella and Brandon, while Flora and Musa flew around as distractions. Timmy and Tecna would follow ground-level through the front doors, acting as decoys if the Trix realized they were being distracted.

"Who thought of this thing?" Stella asked, unimpressed. "Why don't we just go bring the house down?"

"Because they have prisoners," Miss Faragonda told them.

"My nephew put it together when Sky and Riven arrived," Saladin added. "And as Bloom said, her half-brother is an idiot. He was captured, and I doubt she'll want to lose him now that she's just found him."

Stella looked at Bloom, who nodded in determination. Musa gaped,then started laughing. "How many times did we tell him not to date Darcy? That she was evil and she was using him? And look what happens when he doesn't listen--he's gets enslaved by his girlfriend. Can I laugh hysterically?"

"Go ahead. You already are," Bloom muttered as the started to leave. Then she stopped in the door and turned back to Musa. "Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you something, but I'm going to wait until we all get back safely to tell you what's up between you and Riven."

Musa gaped, silent, the screamed as she ran out the door before yelling, "No! Not my nightmare come true! Why?" and acting dramatic, making the girls laugh. "All right, let's get the idiot out of jail and never mention what you want to tell me in any way, shape, or form again. Okay?" she asked.

Bloom rolled her eyes and Sky asked what she was talking about as they went through the corridors to the tunnels. So she told him, the book said Musa and Riven would get married, and Sky laughed along with her.

"I couldn't think of a better couple."

"I could. Any couple that doesn't act like two year olds. 'I don't like you!' 'I don't like you more.' It gets old fast," Bloom told him, doing her best baby-impression. "Besides, for the first year they'll be too stubborn to even admit they're married and have to start working on giving me nieces and nephews."

Brandon laughed, agreeing with her, and they all slipped away into the tunnels; Brandon in back with his sword out, Stella in front with her staff lighting the way, and Sky and Bloom in the middle feeling helpless.

* * *

"Don't ever mention garbage again," Riven muttered as he picked pieces f food out of his hair after they escaped the tower through a garbage chute. "I swear--"

"It's bad to swear," Bloom told him, trying to be annoying.

"You're a little brat today, aren't you?" he asked, annoyed.

"Hey, at least I'm not the idiot that went against everyone's advice and dated a witch and got thrown in the dungeons and had to be saved by his little half-sister, huh?" Bloom replied, rolling her eyes at him. "Timmy and Tecna have bikes. They drove out here. I want you to grab one of them and haul Flora and Musa outta here. Stella and Brandon should already be on their way to the bikes hidden in the forest."

Riven looked confused. "So not only am I being saved by the whole Pixie Recon. Team--"

"Riven," Bloom warned.

"But you guys planted all these bikes around Cloud Tower before you came and saved me? How much time did you kill, knowing I was in here, and who was the shit that made this plan that you kill time coming to save me?"

Bloom started to answer, when she froze and mouthed everything he said. She looked confused and shook it off, pushing him. "I don't get a word you just said. Helia made the plan, but the bikes have been hidden around Cloud Tower since the day you decided to date Darcy."

"Why?" he asked, annoyed.

"Because we figured when the drugs wore off and you realized you're dating Darcy the slutbag, you'd want an easy way to escape," Bloom replied, equally annoyed. "Now will you go and protect your future-wife and her friend?"

Riven was dumbstruck for a second, before they heard a screeching noise and he sprinted out of the compost pile.

"Now what do we do?" Sky asked Bloom.

"We go to the lake."


	8. Attention Fans

Hello,

This is not the writer you know as Camy-Tay. This is her brother, Jae, and I regret to inform you that she will no longer be able to write stories for you. November 18 of 2009, we received word that Cam had cancer. We caught it during her check-up after having the tapeworm removed, but we had not caught it in time.

April 17, 2010, Cam passed away from leukemia.

It has taken me almost a year to figure out her password to tell everyone what has happened. I am sorry for all of you that expected updates. I don't know why she ever made her password the mascot of the first boarding school she attended, but whatever. I loved her, but she was weird.

That being said, I know nothing about , except that Cam wrote on this website and she would want her followers to know she passed. I think they receive updates on her every entry, but I will try to post this letter at the end of every story she's written.

I will keep her page up and try to have her friends write stories in her memory so that she may live on, but I haven't talked to many of them since her funeral.

I'm sorry and God bless Cam. May she be in good hands.


End file.
